Listen and Obey
For the past year, God has been teaching me this lesson.
Every single time I encounter a situation that leaves me without an answer, God always tells me to just listen and obey.
That is how I ended up on the race in the first place. I heard God call me, I listened, and I obeyed.
It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Just listen and obey. Just hear what God is saying and go do it. Turns out, it is not always as easy as it sounds.
Often, the enemy swoops in there with doubt and confusion. Soon, I’m not sure if I’ve heard God or if I’m just amplifying my own thoughts. I mean, how do you tell the difference? What I have found is that FAITH has a lot to do with obedience. Doubt and confusion are NOT from the Lord. Sometimes, you just have to step out there without knowing – without seeing. It isn’t easy. But it is always worth it.
It doesn’t always look like you think it will look, either. I’m telling you, I learn this lesson ALL THE TIME. When I set off for Guatemala in June of ’09, I had all the plans in the world of coming back to the place I left and going right back to teaching. Well, when I was gone, I learned how to hear God’s voice. I learned what it sounded like and I learned to follow it boldly. My plans were wrecked as I heard God calling me further and further away from my former life. If you asked me a year ago where I would be in a year, I SURE wouldn’t have told you that I would be in India.
I have been worried and filled with doubt and confusion about my future. I have gone to God several times in tears because I am so afraid. All he tells me is to listen and obey. I told him that was all well and good, but he needed to tell me WHAT to obey because I needed to know what to do with my life. His response was this, “you mean the life you have given to me”?
oh yeah. that one.
So my life is wide open in front of me, and all I know is that I’m supposed to listen and obey. And that is enough.
Now that example I just gave is a big one. But the whole listen and obey thing God is teaching me is more of a lifestyle. For instance, we have been going into some local communities and reaching out to the nationals. I had big plans for what I was going to do when we did this outreach. But each time, God flipped things around on me and had me do something completely different from what I expected. I could have forced myself to do what I wanted instead of what HE wanted, but then I would have missed out on some incredible blessings. I got to spend time with some amazing Christians that are living their lives on FIRE for HIM and it was encouraging to both of us.
Sometimes I’m walking down the street and I just know that I’m supposed to have a conversation with someone. Sometimes it is someone I know, and sometimes it is a complete stranger. It is in those moments, when I hear God “randomly” speak to me, that my obedience is going to change things.
I was talking in church today about sacrifice. Like Romans 12:1. We need to give our LIVES as a sacrifice. We need to lay aside our plans and our agendas and our own ideas of what we are or are not good at. When we live in a state of constant readiness…of constantly being ready tolisten and obey, then God can use us to do INCREDIBLE things.
I am striving to live a lifestyle of obedience. This is also what I am striving to impart to those around me. In my life, the greatest joys and the moments when I have felt the most purpose have been the moments when I have listened and obeyed. So if you are reading this – consider yourself challenged!!!
