All in Obedience
Have you been waiting patiently on the Lord? If you say yes, then let me ask this: have you done so without muttering and discontent? It is one thing to wait patiently and in great expectation on God, but it is quite a different thing to wait because that is your only recourse... and to do so with discontent, or complaints on your lips. Waiting brings honor to the Father, and a new song to us.
Do you believe that your prayers will be answered? I mean, do you believe unconditionally that your prayers will be answered? I am as guilty as the next of saying “God answers prayer”, and then immediately making excuses for Him by saying such things as “If it is His will.” By doing this I am rewriting his Word, and I am asking forgiveness for this doubt, and lack of faithfulness, today... will you join me?
Have you ever been living out your life and suddenly realized that something you were doing wasn’t what Jesus would have done? In our early years of faith this might be an obvious diversion from a major teaching of Jesus, but as we grow in faith it will most likely be subtle... yet the blessing we gain from this realization, and changing how we behave to be in obedience to Christ in it, is just as strong as when we first believed. The sin of disobedience just as abhorrent.
When we are hungry, to whom do we turn? When we are thirsty, where do we look to have our thirst quenched? When we are in need of a safe place to lay our head, whose name do we Call out to? Before we search for food, water, or shelter, we should seek God, and then obey Him as He leads us, and provides for us. This was the message to the Israelites in the desert, and it is our message today.
The most uncertain of victories will be won by the Lord because He is great beyond measure. How patient is our faith in this; His victory? Are we waiting in total confidence for Him to act? When those around us challenge our patience in God we can be moved to take matters into our own hands, and to abandon our assurance in His promise. In such times I look to scripture and hold tight to it.
Have you surrendered completely to God? Is everything you are, and everything you have His? So often we say these words, but when it comes time to turn those things over to Him we renege, or have second thoughts. We promise the Lord that He is first in our lives and that everything in our life is His; yet at the first sign of true sacrifice, or at His first request of us we falter. Our Father doesn’t need our possessions... He just desires that we not need them more than we need Him.
Are you suffering through something today and as a child of God find yourself wondering if it is because you have failed God in some way? Do you find yourself asking Him why He would allow you to feel such pain, humiliation, illness, deformity, grief, mourning, or other unpleasant form of distress? Well there is a mystery and a revelation in our suffering that brings us where happiness can’t, in it we find the reflection of Christ, and we find holiness.
When you are serving God do you seek to further perfect what He has given you to do? If He tells you to build a neighborhood church do you build a parsonage as well? We hear the voice of God, we hear what He would have us do, and then presume we know what comes next. Have you been guilty of this? Did it seem innocent as you placed words in the mouth of God?
Do you seek the will of God in everything that you do? No? Then how often do you ask the Lord what He would have you do? We are inclined to wake up in the morning, get dressed, and go about our daily duties as we see fit while either assuming we are within God’s will, or not giving it a second thought. However, this is not what He would have us do.
Jesus loves us, this sounds like such a simple statement, and is indeed the repeating theme of a childish worship song whose lyrics begin “Jesus loves me this I know”, but do we really know this? Do we understand the depth and complexity of His love for us? A bigger question is, how do we experience this love.
Satan would have you think that obeying God’s will means that yours must be destroyed, and that you must become some kind of automaton to God. He would have you think that if you are in God’s will then yours has been done away with. This couldn’t be further from the truth; your will is valued by the Lord. He desires your obedience to His Will and plan for you, but that obedience must come by choice, and in concert with your own. Jesus chose to do God’s will.
Have you given up everything you are to Jesus Christ? It is easy to lay down the sin, and bad things in our lives, but have you also laid down the good? Abandoning those things that we naturally identify as good is the most profound test of our faith. Being able to leave behind anything that is contrary in order to immerse ourselves in God’s will for us is the epitome of faithfulness and obedience.
When the Lord gives us a specific calling, or mission, that He wants us to accomplish, how do we know when it is complete? Have you ever left spiritual business unfinished because you took your eyes off of the lord? Whether it is praying for someone each day, being a loving spouse, serving in a far off land, or simply mowing the yard of a sick neighbor; when does stopping become a matter of God, as opposed to our own lack of desire to continue on?
Do you search for God with all your heart, and in so doing are you seeking Him by His terms, or is your motivation your own self-gratification? As you pray and call His name are you continuously obeying His beckoning voice “come”, or are you calling Him to where you are, and asking Him for favors on your own terms?