Now that I have shared messages about reading, talking, and listening, I was excited to get to the topic of obedience. I sat down to write but then could not think of where to begin or what to say. Obedience is one of the most complex yet fulfilling parts of our spiritual journey, and it is necessary for anyone who calls themselves a believer and follower of Christ.
Obedience – Compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.
Maybe I have been looking for a gentle way to say it, but the truth is simple. Obedience in your spiritual journey is doing what God has told you to do when He tells you to do it. If you want everything God has for you, there are no shortcuts.
I understood that fact, but for most of my life, I thought obedience to God’s authority was as simple as going to church, giving, being a good person, doing kind things for others, and anything associated with being a good human being. Since I did not understand what it truly meant and felt like to hear from God, there was no way that I could fully understand obedience to God. Because I have a healthy moral compass and care about my integrity and being kind to others, I was mistaking my conscience for the Holy Spirit.
We all have thoughts such as “I need to get more exercise and drink more water,” or “I need to do better at keeping in touch with people.” There may even be situations where we have said something that was unkind or did not help someone that we should have, and then feel guilty about where we fell short. When we unknowingly go through life writing everything off as our conscience, we miss out on understanding what God is calling us to do. It is critical to know the difference.
The more you study God’s Word, talk with Him, and learn to hear from Him, the more you will be able to know the difference. The thought of “I need to get more exercise and drink more water” could be a thought from our conscience because we know that we should obviously do those things, or it could come from God because He is guiding us to avoid a specific health crisis. The best way that I can explain it from my experience is that when it comes from the Holy Spirit there is more depth to it, and you will truly have a knowing that it is coming from God. At that point, it is up to you to acknowledge or ignore that nudge you feel. If you have lived long enough, you have probably experienced one of those “I should visit or give this or that person a call” moments, ignored it, and then found out a short time later that the person passed away.
Once I understood the difference between my conscience and God telling me to do something, I realized that the biggest hindrance to obedience for me was fear. Obedience requires full surrender of our ego, pride, and desire to remain comfortable and control outcomes. It also requires complete and total trust in God to take care of you. It is not for the fainthearted. It has taken a long time, and I must surrender several times daily. I have finally accepted that nothing comes ahead of obedience to God.
At any given time in my life, I’m waiting for God to answer a prayer or fulfill a promise based on His Word. I now have learned to ask myself “Am I waiting on God or is God waiting on me?” I had to be honest about the fact that while I was standing firmly on God’s promises, I was ignoring things that He was telling me to do. God is not a genie just sitting around waiting to fulfill my wishes.
So where should we start? Matthew 6:33 ESV says “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” We were created for God’s glory and instructed to be obedient by seeking the kingdom and God’s righteousness.
We seek the kingdom through reading and deep study of God’s Word. The definition of righteousness that resonated with me most was something that Pastor Randy Skeete said. “Righteousness is a lifestyle of total obedience to God’s will, from the heart. It’s not forced. It is a joyful service to God. Whatever God says, I do. Righteousness is simple obedience to God’s Word through the indwelling power of Christ.” Deuteronomy 6:24-25 NIV says “The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” I would encourage you to take it a step further and read the full chapter. It is powerful.
For those who go through life excusing their behavior by saying, “Because of Jesus, we now live under grace,” and “God knows my heart,” those statements are true. Grace, however, does not excuse us from having to obey. You may need to reexamine everything you’ve put under that warm cozy blanket called “God knows my heart.” He does know your heart, and He knows whether it is a heart led by obedience, ignorance, or rebellion.
Two experiences come to mind when I think of obedience. Last year I received a message on Facebook from someone that I was only connected to because of my parents. I never had a single conversation with this man outside of when we met almost 20 years ago. He sent a message asking how I was doing. I told him that all is well and asked how he was doing. He said that he was having problems with his left knee, but it is something that comes with age. I said, “I understand,” and added, “Could be worse.” He replied with “LOL” and agreed. Almost five months later he reached out again and just said “Hello.” I replied and asked how he was doing. He said, “Not bad” and then said, “I was wondering if I could bug you for a minute.” If you are anything like me, you understand the dread that I felt at that moment. I did not know him and had no idea why he would want to speak to me, or what I would say to him. I felt that little nudge and knew that I needed to agree to speak with him. I asked if he wanted to give me a call. He replied “Yes,” but added that his brother had bone cancer and was not doing well. A few minutes later he called. We spoke for about 30 minutes. He told me what his brother was going through. We also spoke about being in relationship with God, reminisced about my parents, and talked about his daughter as well. When I got off the phone with him I felt like it was odd that he would reach out to me of all people just to talk, but I brushed it off and thought nothing more about it. A month later I received a message from his daughter that he had passed away. She let me know that he told her about the conversation that he had with me. I will never know what the point of that conversation was, but I felt so thankful for my obedience in agreeing to speak with him right away when he asked. I cannot even remember all of the details of our conversation, but I am thankful that God used me for whatever he needed.
On another occasion, God gave me a specific message to give to someone I do not know on a deeply personal level. This was one time when I can say that I did not want to be obedient to what God was guiding me to do. It pushed me too far outside of what was comfortable. I even asked God why I had to do it and said to Him, “She has friends. Why can’t they do it?” He made it clear that the message was to come from me. When I saw her that day, I shared the message. She simply replied, “I receive that” and explained that she had been going through some really tough things for a couple of months and was wondering how much worse it could get. I understood at that moment why the message was meant to come from me. I am completely outside of her close circle, with no knowledge of what she was going through in her personal life. God needed her to know that He was with her in a way that was more impactful coming from outside of her circle of close friends or family. That moment was impactful for me as well.
God showed me that if I walk according to His will, He can use me and bless me in more ways than I could ever imagine. Not every moment will feel profound, so do not expect confetti to come falling from the sky just because you were obedient. Obeying God in all things means that there will be a combination of big and small things. Many of those things will go seemingly unnoticed. This is about our relationship with God, not putting on a show for others.
Some things will involve other people and some things will only be between you and God. For example, God may nudge you to wake up 30 minutes earlier just so that you can spend some quiet, uninterrupted time with Him. When I told God that I wanted everything that He has for me, He made it clear that I would have to do everything He asked of me. I laugh when I think of today’s so-called “Woke” culture. Walking with God requires you to “Stay woke” in a way that you never even imagined and as I said, it is not for the fainthearted.
This is a lifelong journey. Every single day and moment matters. When God calls you to obey Him, believe that He has provided a way for you to do so. We just have to trust and understand that the more we hold on to what is considered to be normal according to the pattern of this world, we forfeit what is possible with God.
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