Growing in obedience
He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags, saying to them, “Good riddance!” Isaiah 30:19-22
God is not after your abilities, talents and appeal. He wants your obedience. This is what He is looking for. Nothing is more spiritual than to obey God. Yet, this is the hardest thing to do for a Christian. This is where Christians need to grow. The reason why it becomes a struggle to many Christians is because the route of convenience is the path many prefer. So when God interrupts life and one finds that following His lead will take him or her to uncomfortable situations, the easy way is to bail out and resist obeying God. Obedience creates worries and anxieties. God had purposed to take you, His child, to the place He wants you to go. This is when Christian life becomes an adventure. You are expected to adjust your life to where He wants you to go. When was the last time you tried to seek God’s will for your life? Did you ask Him for help once you discovered His will for your life? Obedience requires that you become faithful to Him. You will not adjust to His will if you do not trust Him. You must follow even if what He is asking from you seemed to be unreasonable at the moment. King Solomon after he realized that nothing in this world could provide meaning to his life gave this conclusion, “Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). As John Sammis wrote in his hymn, “Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Do not substitute superficial religious activities to a real devotion to God.
Blessings.
