What does God want you to do?

"But Amos stood up to Amaziah: 'I never set up to be a preacher, never had plans to be a preacher.  I raised cattle and I pruned trees.'  Then God took me off the farm and said, 'Go preach to my people Israel.'"
Amos 7:14-15 MSG.

When we read the Bible, we really read a lot of what we hear about in church and miss so much more in the more unknown books.  I must say that I have learned a lot from these more obscure books of the Bible.  These "lesser" prophets, as they are sometimes referred, actually did some of the best work for God.  Case in point, Amos.  I had never touched the book of Amos until this past week, and I have pulled some very applicable life verses out his ministry.

Amos was a simple man who was given a very tough minstry:  go out and tell the lands of Israel, and their kings, what God has prepared for them if they don't stop what they are doing and turn back to God. As you can see, he was a farmer, not a preacher.  He was a simple man who lived a simple life and God called him into something so complicated, all he could do was listen to God and do as he was instructed.

What does this tell us about listening and doing?  Amos says so precisely as he is talking to Amaziah, the chief priest at the Bethel temple, that he is not a preacher, but a farmer.  Basically he is saying, "Look, I am a farmer dude. Do you really think I am smart enough to come up with some elaborate plan to get rid of the king?"  All Amos did was nurture a special relationship with God, listen intently for what God had planned for him, executed that plan, and left the results up to God. 

What did I learn from Amos?  Shut up, listen for God, and do what he asks.  The rest is up to God. 

Amos has become one of my Biblical heroes. A simple life, morphed into a complex ministry, which ultimately served God.  Done.

Freak