You are Responsible For Obedience—Not The Outcome

There is a reason we sometimes hesitate to reach out to someone we know is struggling and it isn't always because we don't care.

Sometimes we're afraid. 

What if they shut me down?

What if nothing changes?

What if I say the wrong thing?

Those are legitimate questions.

But underneath them may be a bigger problem: We have confused obedience with outcomes.

We think if God asks us to do something, we're somehow responsible for making it work.

We're not.

GOD NEVER ASKED YOU TO BE THEIR SAVIOR

James 5:19–20 talks about someone who wanders from the truth and someone else who goes after them.

That's a tremendous responsibility. If someone wanders, go after them.

But there is an enormous difference between reaching for someone and taking responsibility for someone.

You can call and listen. 

But you cannot make their decisions for them.

You cannot make them receive truth.

And you were never supposed to.

Your responsibility is obedience. Their response belongs to them. The outcome belongs to God.

That's incredibly important because without that distinction, caring about people can quickly become carrying people.

WE WANT TO KNOW. 

We want to know how they'll respond before we reach out.

We want to know how the conversation will go well before we start it.

We want to know how our effort will make a difference before we make the effort.

But that's not faith.

Faith obeys without demanding a guarantee of the outcome.

Think about how many things in Scripture happened because somebody simply did what God put in front of them.

They didn't know how the story would end. They just knew what their next step was.

God rarely gives us control of the entire story. He gives us the next step.

LOVE TAKES THE RISK

There is always some risk involved in genuinely caring about people.

Between misunderstanding and rejection we think we can’t do anything. 

But love reaches anyway. Not because we know what they'll do. Because we know what we're supposed to do.

Galatians 6:1 says: “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.”

I love those words: gently and humbly.

We aren't going after people to straighten them out or prove we're right.

We go because they matter.

And sometimes the most Christlike thing you can do is simply let somebody know:

I see you. I haven't forgotten you. And I'm not walking away just because things got messy.

BUT THERE IS ANOTHER SIDE TO THIS

Once you've reached out, you have to trust God.

That's hard for people who genuinely care.  Because when you love someone, you want to fix it.  You want to make the pain disappear.

But there comes a point when your faith has to move from: “God, use me.”

to: “God, I trust You.”

You obey. Then you release the outcome.

And sometimes releasing the outcome requires just as much faith as making the call did.

SO TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Maybe somebody has been on your mind lately.

You know you should reach out.