Watch Out For God's Surprise Nudge
The Surprise Nudge
I went to college primarily to make money. Our family had eight kids, and my father didn’t make much money. Financially, we were always on the edge. I knew I didn’t want to live like that for the rest of my life, and I thought a college degree would help me become successful.
In college, I joined a group of students in a Bible study. One day, the group leader told me, “Mike, I think the Lord wants you to preach.”
I wanted to say, “Get behind me, Satan!” But I just laughed and told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. My Mom had told me for years that I would be a preacher, and I had ignored her. After all, every preacher I’d ever known was poor, so I was sure I didn’t want to become one!
This young man was certain he had received a God Nudge, so he returned the next week and announced boldly, “Mike, you need to listen. I think the Lord wants you to be a preacher.”
This time, I was fierce and firm. I told him bluntly, “Look, I ain’t going to be a preacher. They’re always broke, and I have no intention of being broke. Besides, preachers drive old rust buckets for cars. Surely God’s got something better for me than that!”
As far as I was concerned, the matter was closed. I continued to attend the group, but I wasn’t open to any input from the leader. Every time he headed my way, I just shook my head at him. That stopped him before he said a word.
Our group used to serve in little churches around the area. We cleaned kitchens and lobbies, cut grass, trimmed hedges, picked up trash, built things, passed out meals, and helped in any way we could. One day, the leader of our group scheduled a service at a little church in Maypearl, Texas. He came up behind me the next week, and before I could shake my head at him, he said, “Mike, we have a service out at Maypearl next weekend. I told the preacher that you’re speaking.”
I turned and glared at him, saying, “Listen, I ain’t speaking. I don’t roll like that. I’ll go to Maypearl, fix things, and do carpentry work for them, but I have nothing to say.”
He smirked as he was walking away. “Do what you want to, but when 11 o’clock next Sunday morning rolls around, you’re going to be really embarrassed if you don’t have something to say to the people at that church.”
Later that week, I was reading Proverbs, and a passage jumped off the page. I thought to myself, “That’s a pretty cool verse. I’d better write it down and put it in my pocket—just in case somebody asks me to say something.”
The next Sunday in Maypearl, it was announced that I was delivering the message. I got up on the stage. I read the verse from Proverbs, talked for about 10 minutes, and then asked, “Does anybody want to get saved?”
Three people were saved that morning. That was pretty cool.
After I left that service, the Lord nudged me and said, “Mike, this is what you’re supposed to do.” Over the next few months, I still resisted God’s leading, but I had the unmistakable sense that God was nudging me to become a pastor. I had plenty of reasons to say “no,” but the leading of God was clear. Finally, I chose to be obedient to Him. It all began, however, when a young man in a campus Bible study was obedient to a God Nudge and spoke a word to me. Even when I was rude to him, he persisted. Even when I resisted God, He persisted. I soon realized that God’s claim on my life isn’t about my comfort, reputation, or wealth—it’s about His grace and His kingdom.
Have you sensed a collision between your agenda and God’s? Don’t despair. It’s a normal part of learning to walk with Him. Are you avoiding a God Nudge by refusing to listen? Was there a nudge in the past that you neglected or resisted? Maybe it’s time to wake it up again and respond in faith. It’s never too late to begin again. Even if the old nudge is long gone, there’s another one just around the corner. Be open, be sensitive to God’s Spirit, and be obedient to whatever He tells you to do. There’s no greater joy than being a sharp tool in God’s gracious hands.
Thank you for reading. Please forward this to a friend or two. :-)