The Pain of Obedience
Obedience is not exactly the easiest thing to do. There has to be a little pain in order to appreciate the peace and joy of obeying. Will you obey?
Obedience. The act that goes against the raw urges and desires that we have being human. We have to understand that our flesh only wants what feels good but it is not necessarily what is good for us. You all should know by now that I am a word girl, so we will start off this blog with the definition:
Obedience is compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority.
What sticks out to me in the definition is the "submission to another's authority". Sometimes we feel that we are ok operating under our own authority. In this blog we obviously are discussing obedience to God. This is the first and foremost thing that has to be understood and accepted especially when going into purpose. After all, He is our creator and who better to know how to we should operate in the world? Who better to know how to function in our purpose? I think we are pretty much game for the idea of listening to God because it will lead us to our destiny but I believe it's the in between steps of obedience that may cause the most issues.
God never does everything all at once. He knows exactly what it takes to get you to the big picture. He kind of breaks us down in increments. There are things and habits that we have accumulated over the years that have to be dealt with. Most of us have went through things that tried to destroy or damage us. Even though those things happened we did not break and even if we did, we serve a God that knows how to put the pieces of us back together like nothing has ever happened.
These things that has happened over the years shaped our way of thinking and gave us a theology about life until we encounter God. If I could paint a picture, it is almost like I can see his hands switching some things around my brain and rewiring everything. This rewiring usually happens by using circumstances and situations that are meant to teach us aka re-wire, re write our doctrine to line up with His.
We fight back, we fall, we repeat certain things and guess what? This is painful! Who wants to keep repeating test and classes? Not I! No matter how painful it is, I don't want to repeat the lesson, so I will press through. God promises that He will be with us through all of this "rewiring and purging" of what I picked up over the years that was not His will for my life.
I can imagine Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Even though He knew His time of crucifixion was here, it was a struggle. The flesh rebelled a little but " nevertheless" Jesus stated, "not my will but Your will be done". Jesus was obedient till death. Until the assignment and destiny were finished on the cross. Whew!
So, you see what I am saying? Even Jesus went through pain while obeying because of the shell that He was in. Listen, this flesh is a mess! lol
Throughout my walk with Jesus thus far, it gets a little easier to obey God. Notice I said a little. lol
My push for submitting is minimizing really what my flesh can do without His spirit. Without God I am a mess and I really can't do much. Yes, I could rest on gift but will it always glorify God? What becomes the reason for me living? I obey because I know and realize through life experiences who has the upper hand. That does not mean I always get it right every time either.
One morning while I was going about my normal work routine at home and listening to prayer, I heard God say " Ask me to trust you again". I immediately burst into tears and built up the courage to ask God, "Lord, trust me again". This was very humbling. It was like I repented and humbled myself in the presence of God in that request. Long story short, God has blessed me, but I have not exactly been the best steward of what He has given me and I am not afraid to admit that. There are things I could have and should have accomplished with what He gave me.
What kind of God tells you basically that He wants you to ask Him for another chance? A God with a love that is definitely not like ours and a love that is indescribable.
So, in a nutshell, yes obedience to God and the people and things He uses to get us there can be painful, but on the other side is a reward that we could never imagine obtaining.
God Bless