Shut Up, Get Up & Go!

I had a grand time last night singing and speaking at Prentiss Baptist Church in Prentiss. I had the chance to catch up with people I hadn't seen in a long time and meet many new faces. One of the things I shared with those in attendance was how God gives each of us a different mission every day for the Kingdom. And because we often have excuses as to why we can't follow through, we just need to shut up, get up, and go.

John 5 tells the story of the healing at the pool at Bethesda. The paralyzed, the blind, the lame--would all gather at the side of that pool and wait for the waters to move. From time to time, an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each disturbance would be cured of whatever he had. Obviously, this pool was a popular place. One man had been lame for 38 years. Jesus heard how long he had been crippled and asked him if he wanted to get well. In verse 7, the man said "'I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get in, someone else goes down in front of me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.' At once the man was cured. He picked up his mat and walked."

This poor man was whining and complaining that he couldn't move fast enough; that someone always got there first. He had the "woe is me" syndrome. I think if I had been there that long, I could have shimmied my way down into the waters, don't you?! And what did Jesus tell him--get up and go!

God is telling you and me to do something specific. You know what it is, you just don't want to do it. Don't compromise what the Lord is telling you to do. Shut up, get up and go!