This is the first of a six-part blog series on “obstacles to obedience,” reasons we tell God, “No.” This comes to you courtesy of Ryan Doherty, the Summit’s North Durham campus pastor. Be sure to check out the rest of the series here: Obstacle 1 (Not Recognizing the Call), Obstacle 2 (Time), Obstacle 3 (Earthly Treasures), Obstacle 4 (Safety), & Obstacle 5 (Lack of Training).
“All along, let us remember: we are not asked to understand, but simply to obey.”
~Amy Carmichael, missionary among orphans in India for 55 years (without a furlough)
Reading 40 missionary biographies in 40 days actually began several years ago when my wife and I began the pursuit of our international adoption of our son, Charlie.
After deciding that we would adopt from the heart of Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) soon became our subject of study. Our free time was consumed by browsing through various websites such as BBC News, CNN, The Huffington Post, and Wikipedia. Our Amazon wish list and library were soon filled with such titles as, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa, King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa, and Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through The World’s Most Dangerous Country.
Every book and each author highlighted a different aspect of our son’s country of birth. Together, my wife and I sought to understand the history of the DRC and its people, beginning with the Belgian exploration there in the 1870s. One of the most helpful resources we read was Martin Dugard’s Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone. David Livingstone was one of the first pioneer medical missionaries who explored this foreign land, seeking to discover the source of the Nile River. His work eventually aided in opening this uncharted territory to the outside world.
Intrigued after reading Dugard’s insightful book, I began to read several other biographies about this famous missionary. One such book was Geoff and Janet Benge’s David Livingston: Africa’s Trailblazer. The Benges helped color in for me some of Dr. Livingstone’s early history, work in Africa, and his eventual legacy. It was only after finishing this biography that I realized it was actually a part of a larger set, entitled Christian Heroes: Then & Now. This series of 40+ biographies “chronicle the exciting, challenging, and deeply touching true stories of ordinary men and women whose trust in God accomplished extraordinary exploits for His kingdom and glory.”
It was after buying the entire set on sale and having them stare at me for the past year that I decided that I was going to personally challenge myself—as a sort of spiritual discipline—to read about 40 of these men and woman over the span of 40 days. Yes, that is one biography per day, all in the midst of a very busy ministry schedule, active family life, and plenty of other distractions. It would have been easy to fall behind or give up, but with the Lord’s strength and by his grace, I made it through!
The more I read, the more I was struck by how frequently their stories included excuses, barriers, and other roadblocks that could have prevented them from going where God wanted to send them and doing what he asked of them. After noticing these patterns and commonalities, I started to keep track, and found that despite coming from different backgrounds and living in different times, there were five common obstacles to their obedience that they could have used as excuses, which would have led to their disobedience. And I believe the very same obedience obstacles are just as prevalent today.
So, perhaps these stories could lead us to have an honest conversation about why we tell God, “no.”
