The Peculiarity of doing Detached Youth Work with God

At the start of this post I just want to say that it doesn’t negate planning. Planning is important and creating milestones or steps you want to achieve. God orders and is involved in planning. However, this post by Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest gave me pause and challenged me. What happens on an evening when you head out to do detached work. You have your plans and you done your risk assessment. You collated your assets and put together your team. You head out the door. Over to Oswald….

Will you go out without knowing?

“He went out, not knowing whither he went.”

Hebrews 11:8

Have you been “out” in this way? If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question – “What do you expect to do?” You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continual y revise your attitude towards God and see if it is a going out of everything, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder – you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a “going out,” building in confidence on God. “Take no thought for your life, . . . nor yet for your body” – take no thought for the things for which you did take thought before you “went out.”

Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you go out in surrender to Him until you are not surprised an atom at anything He does?

Suppose God is the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him – what an impertinence worry is! Let the attitude of the life be a continual
“going out” in dependence upon God, and your life will have an ineffable charm about it which is a satisfaction to Jesus. You have to learn to go out of convictions, out of creeds, out of experiences, until so far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing between yourself and God.

What an exciting thought. God knows what you will do, all you need to do is step out. Plans are important and they shape your way but God is in control and always will be.