Obedience:It Matters

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you- “I Will Follow”-Chris Tomlin

If you’ve not heard this song you need to go listen to it.

Being obedient isn’t always easy. Neither is it particularly fun all the time. There are times when doing something God calls you to do will move you from your comfort zone. You’ll do things that you never could have imagined. It’s possible that in the end you will enjoy it and depending on what it is find a new ministry to serve Him in. Other times you’ll do it and despite being grown will not want to do that particular thing again.

That is the thing about obedience; we aren’t promised that we will enjoy it. We are just called to obey. It’s tricky sometimes because you don’t always want to do things instantly but the problem with that is delayed obedience is disobedience. That comes with consequences.

One of the many mind-blowing and incredible things about God is He knows what we need even if we don’t. What might seem like a horrible experience is a blessing in disguise. Why? When you get uncomfortable and do things you don’t want to do you are forced to rely on God. That is how you grow. Anytime you are put in a new situation or just one that makes you uncomfortable you realize that in all the uncertainty you are in the hands of the God who is sovereign over everything. Being reminded of that fact is never a bad thing. We rely so much on what we can do it is far too easy for us to lean on God only when things get so bad we don’t know what to do anymore. He is the last resort when he should be the first.

When he calls us to do something whatever it may be we have to rely on him. The key here is to remember that even if it seems like a small matter obedience is still needed. That is where the beauty in the situation comes from. We are doing things that we don’t like or are horrible at but we know that when all is said and done we are going to be that much closer to Him. Our faith will be made stronger because we have put our trust solely in Him.

You will do things that will be hard. You will do things that in a million years never would have crossed your mind if it was your choice. You will be grown up and you will be stretched until you don’t think you can possibly be stretched any farther. Sometimes it will hurt but in the end it will be worth it.

　

The whole point of highlighting that chorus is to say this; being obedient to God means doing many different things. You could be called to move halfway around the world. You might even be called to stay exactly where you are at until He calls you to something. Waiting patiently is often an incredible test in obedience in and of itself. I’ll be honest right now that is where I’m at. Trying to plan everything out for myself is getting me no where but my flesh still craves that desire to have things planned out and to be doing something.

Maybe He wants you to love someone that you’d rather not get close to for a myriad of reasons. But the great thing about God is if you rely on Him and not yourself you can do far more than anything imaginable because Holy Spirit is working in you. That encompasses even loving someone that you didn’t think possible. Serving like Christ can be hard because He was amongst the people. He didn’t stick with those who could pay him in return or those who were clean. Jesus was found amongst the sick and the needy. I realize that serving doesn’t just mean those things, there are many different ways you can serve those around you, but don’t let fear of helping those you’d never thought of get in the way of being obedient.

That final line is a big one. It is so powerful because Christ himself was obedient to the will of his father even to the point of death on a cross. Literally, I’m not going to say that God is going to call you to serve somewhere that you are going to do die for it. It’s a definite possibility; there are certainly plenty of people who do so. However, we are called to die to ourselves daily. That daily death is what allows us to be obedient. Is it easy? No, but it has to happen if we are going to follow God like we are called to do.