We have been on a journey of exploring The Pacing of Jesus – how He lived and lead in such a way that He enjoyed His walk with the Father, reveled in his relationships, and yet fully glorified God by accomplishing everything that the Father had given Him to do (Jn.17:4).

We have been briefly unpacking the five components from the original blog for the purpose of heart reflection and life application. So, let’s take a peek at the third one:

Jesus was motivated by obedience, not driven by needs –Jn.11:1-44

Awhile back, I heard a godly leader that I love and respect say something that didn’t quite land right inside of me. Since then, I have heard a couple of other leaders say the same thing – ‘If you see it, you are called to it.’ Now, I don’t know about you, but I ‘see’ a lot of things – individuals hurting, needy, and powerless; systems and structures that need reforming; locations on the planet that are in turmoil; natural disasters ravaging huge populations of people – and just because I ‘see’ these things I am ‘called’ to them?!

Now, I get it that I can pray as I am ‘seeing,’ but, until I grow further in the three big O’s – Omniscience, Omnipresence and Omnipotence (and that isn’t going to happen in my life time) – there is no way I can be called to all these things while living within this little finite tent I inhabit for seven to ten decades.

When I look at Jesus, I see Him motivated by obedience to the Father and not by the needs of the people around Him. Does this mean He doesn’t care – of course not – He had compassion on every need and on every person! It simply means that He trusted the Father – the only One who can meet all needs everywhere – to lead and guide Him to the piece that He was to carry and serve.

Being motivated to meet people’s needs is a good one – but not the highest one. If one is not careful, it can lead to a lot of busyness (is that always a Kingdom sign of good things?) – not necessarily fruitfulness. What are you motivated by – by your ‘closet times’ with Jesus and those He has called you to walk with or the loud noise of neediness that surrounds all of us every day? I think Jesus’ words to us today would be simple: listen – pray – obey.

~DB