Wednesday, October 10, 2001
You've probably seen the G. I. Joe action dolls. I never bought one of those for my boys - but I did buy a special version of G. I. Joe lately - as an object lesson for our "On Eagles' Wings" team of young Native Americans. This particular, limited edition doll portrays a group of unsung heroes from World War II called the Navajo Code Talkers. They were soldiers who worked in wartime communications in some of the fiercest battles of the Pacific campaign. They used their Navajo language to communicate in a code that baffled the Japanese. Some surviving Code Talkers were recently honored by the President in Washington. The Code Talker G. I. Joe actually says a few Navajo phrases when you pull his string. I wanted to use that doll as an example of how some young Native Americans helped determine the outcome of the battle - and how God wants to use young Native Americans to do that today in the battle for their people. Now my Navajo G. I. Joe has stayed unopened in his box for nearly a year since I bought him - they're pretty rare. Because he's almost a collector's item, I didn't really want to take Joe out of his box. But you can't get him to do what he does if you leave him in the box.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Getting Out of the Box."
That G. I. Joe doll could not really be of any service until he was out of his box. Neither can you.
Someone who's listening today has been experiencing a deep stirring in their heart recently - an undefined restlessness, a desire to make a greater difference, a sense that God is up to something. It could well be that your Lord is summoning you to join Him in a great work He wants to do. But you can't do it if you stay in the box you've been in.
It's always been that way for people Jesus wanted to use to do something important for Him. It started with the very first people to follow Him. It's in our word of today from the Word of God in Mark 1, beginning in verse 16. "As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow Me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed Him."
Notice: Jesus calls Simon and Andrew as they are in the middle of the box where they've spent their whole adult lives - they're fishermen, and Jesus calls them out right in the middle of their fishing, right where they work, right at the source of their security and their identity. He says, "Leave that, come with Me, and do something a lot more important." He may be saying that to you.
Matthew was called to follow Jesus right at this tax collector's booth, the place that was his security and identity. Abraham was called from the cozy place where he lived with his family and their fortune. Over and over, Jesus says, "I have got great plans for you, but you'll have to leave the comfort zone that you've been living in all this time."
So God's greater work for you will almost surely require that you move beyond where you're comfortable - financially comfortable, maybe socially comfortable, maybe where you're methodologically comfortable, or geographically comfortable. But when you make that move, you are now flying in the Jesus-Zone, the Miracle Zone, the Life Enlargement Zone.
With my soldier doll, I had a warrior in a box where it was safe and protected - and useless. He had to get out of his box to be of any service. So do you.