Positionality defines who we are, including all of our identities, lived experiences, realities, truths, traumas, and thoughts, and influences how we perceive everything in the world. I’ve been working on materials for a class I am teaching this weekend and thinking about how our position affects not only our students but everything we choose to do in life.
What positions, beliefs, opinions, or realities do you hold dear that are outside of God’s directive? God cares about the everyday decisions we make. When He told Abraham to leave everything and everybody he knew and go to a place that He would show him, Abraham obeyed (Genesis 12:1). Abraham had no idea where He was headed. He did not know if he should pack for snow, rain, ice, or other adverse conditions. All he knew was that God had given him a directive. Abraham’s positionality was to follow God’s directive. The direction did not matter, the condition of the highway did not matter, and the cost of the trip did not matter.
Would we be as obedient as Abraham? What about Hosea? God told him to marry a prostitute (Hosea 1:2) . God turned Hosea’s entire life and marriage into a living parable for people to see. Would you follow God’s directive in this instance? Would you be as obedient as Noah? God told him to build a boat (Genesis 6:13-22). Noah had no idea what God was talking about because it had never rained before. Noah did not question God’s directive. His positionality was obedience.
What is your positionality when God gives you a directive? Is it procrastination or outright disobedience? Do you say ‘I don’t understand what you want me to do, so I am not going to attempt to do anything’? Or do you say ‘Yes, Lord, I hear you and I am going to obey. If you are not sure of the next steps, first complete the steps you can, and God will give you the next steps.
A few weeks ago I was working on a project that God told me to start. I told the Lord, ‘I have no idea how to do that’. He said, I know, but you can learn. I started learning, and I am still in the learning phase, but I am being obedient to the directive God gave me. My positionality is obedience.
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