How to Tell If You're about to Do Something Awesome

What’s the most significant thing you’ve ever done? The most awe-inspiring?

If you were to ask me I wouldn’t say, “Graduating college.” Although I consider that a great feat. I wouldn’t say, “Running eleven miles in a row.” Or, “Writing two books." 

Beadmobile (CC)

No, without hesitation I’d tell you that fostering and adopting two boys is the most significant endeavor Katie and I have ever undertaken. 

But it almost never happened.

God called Katie, not me, to care for foster children. (We have a special telephone He uses. It’s golden.) Well, actually He called me too, but the call came through Katie. I’m not sure what catalyst started her on the path to foster care, but God planted the idea inception-style in her heart. And it grew.

And I resisted.

We had no children; what did I know about being a parent? If she felt so strongly about foster care, why didn’t I? Besides these questions I knew the task would require a lot of hard work. I figured the idea would fade and we could go back to our normal lives stuffing our faces with Arby’s and watching reruns of The Office every night. Pretty sweet life, huh?

But the idea didn’t fade, and Katie continued to gently but firmly press me. She was ever-respectful of my reservations, conscious of the amount of work (physical and emotional) it would take to care for a foster child and the necessity that I be 100% on board.

Satan’s Most Opportune Time to Tempt You 

In the Bible, a physician called Luke wrote a letter to his friend, Theophilus. In that letter Dr. Luke recorded various events surrounding the life of Jesus, including the story of Jesus’ testing in the wilderness. After Jesus expertly combatted the enemy’s tests, Luke writes that “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time” (4:13).

Interestingly, Luke didn't record what I believe is this “opportune” time, but two of Jesus’s disciples did. Late in Jesus’ ministry when He tells the disciples He must die a painful death and be raised to life, Peter rebukes him saying, “This shall never happen to you!"

In response, Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (Matt. 16:23).

Notice Jesus didn’t say, “Get behind me, Peter!” Because He recognized the enemy working through his disciple.

Jesus was about to do something amazing—fulfill his destiny at Golgotha—and here comes satan to tempt Jesus to relent.

In similar fashion, the enemy is waiting for an opportune time to tempt you to turn away from your calling. When the stakes are the highest—when you are about to do something awesome—you will feel the temptation to turn away, to turn around, and to give up. The snake knows what’s at stake so he will play on your “human concerns”: your fears or your pride or on whatever chink in the armor he can find.

I knew foster care was an impossible undertaking, and the temptation to turn around and run the other way was pretty high. But after a couple of months I came to the realization that if this impetus were truly from God, following it would be the best possible thing for our lives.

The same is true for you. When God calls, it often doesn’t make sense. It’s not necessarily what you want to hear. But when you feel the pressure to turn away, know that you are about to embark on something truly amazing and press on. God has great things in store for you; you need to trust Him to carry you through.

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