Ok so this is a topic that God has been putting on my heart lately, and that topic is obedience which for me is something that I struggle with so much on so many levels. So what is obedience according to Webster?
Obedience: Compliance with an order, request, law or submission to another’s authority; observance of a mononastic rule.
While I am a very respectful, and compliant person there are times when I do have a tendency to want to do things my way, and as a result that has gotten me into trouble which comes as a result of me being young, single, and very headstrong kind of person (I’m an only child too), I love to live life by my own rules, and sometimes that has even led me to not always be obedient in a few ways. Do I argue with my parents sometimes? Yes. Do I blow off some things at work that I am asked to do by my leaders? Yes. Am I proud of these things? No, but I blame human nature for these things even if I try not to do them since I know it is wrong. In the end things work out as I get the job done, and I usually end up giving up the argument since sometimes you just gotta know when to cut your losses, admit defeat, and move on.
What is obedience to God?
Obedience to God: submitting to what God requires of us. this call of our Lord will help motivate us to keep seeking him regardless of the circumstances, so that we will be able to keep his precepts and remain loyal to him and his call for us.
Wow that’s pretty powerful for me to think about considering that this is one of the main areas in my life where I feel like God is challenging me in my faith journey. As I’ve said before I am studying the book of Romans in BSF, and let me tell you just how much of a game changer that book is for I am really beginning to realize the areas of my life that I need to work on as far as my spiritual self goes, and one of these things that God has put on me is my lackluster obedience to him, and what he wants me to do (ouch right?) I know that I have to be obedient to him as a child of God, and yes even I will admit that I am not always obedient to him when he puts something in my heart and mind, and I do have a tendency to ignore it, but that is one of the goals that I hope God will help me with while on World Race since I feel the need to be more obedient to God in so many ways, and thanks to Romans I am now just figuring this out.
As much as I hate to admit it there was a time in my life that I put off God in a way when he was calling me to do his will just cause I didn’t feel like paying him any attention and like the sinner I am I didn’t want to do it to submit to his will right away as it took a lot of coaxing (ok more like a push) to get my stubborn self to finally submit to God and his will that he was wanting me to do (kind of like Jonah). Here’s the backstory:
It was the summer of 2012, and I was miserable on all levels. I was dealing with a lot of negative emotions in addition to my mom getting really sick, and seeing her so sick really broke my heart, but in among it all God had other ideas for he wanted to give me a new perspective about my life, you know get me out of my comfort zone since it was in way becoming unhealthy for me physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually so up came an opportunity in my church to help out with the high school mission trip that was gonna be taking place in 3 weeks, and God wanted me to volunteer as a adult chaperone. However, I wanted no part in that plan, so I resisted God’s call, and in a sense I was being selfish and disobedient. I felt like I did not want to go and there was nothing that God could do to make me go since I also did not want to leave my mom even though by this point she was much better. Long story short, I lost that fight with God, got kicked in the butt by God, and ended up going to Kokomo Indiana anyways as a chaperone. It was that trip that opened my eyes to something that I had been blind to for the last year, and that was I was a prisoner to things that I thought were good for me when in reality they were actually contributing to my sin, and it was during that trip that I vowed to change my ways since God showed me just how blessed I really was, and I was taking advantage of it for my own selfish reasons. I also learned a very valuable lesson about obedience to God, and that if he calls you to do something, you don’t question it, just do it hence when I was beginning to feel myself go down that same path this past summer, instead of just not doing anything about it (like I did the first time around), I prayed to God for guidence, and that was when God really put the World Race back on my heart and in my mind. This time around I chose to be obedient to God, and not blow him off, and I have a feeling that I won’t regret this decision either. Will it be tough? Yes, but God won’t give us more then we can handle, and all I gotta do is just put my trust and faith in him, and let him work, and not fight it no matter how much I want to cause it is my nature. In return both then and what is coming, I got a feeling that God will bless me in a way that I might not expect, but I just don’t know it yet.
Studying the Book of Romans this past year in BSF has also made a aware of this glaring fact in my faith journey as it has opened my eyes to this flaw in me, and in a way made me want to try and change that part about myself that I might not have fully realized had it not be for studying Romans (I know I mentioned this earlier, but it’s a point that I want to get across as it is an important reminder.
I will leave you with a quote from a good friend of mine about my World Race journey, and her point of view about my obedience to God about heeding the call to go on this journey
“What you will be embarking on is incredible and amazing! And totally gutsy and obeying Our Father. You are so strong, willing and obedient and will do a superb job ministering to others.”-Andrea
Talk about pressure hahahahahaha *thumbs up*. Also is it just me or does this sound like a sermon topic?
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Til next time your fellow sister in Christ,
Bonnie
Psalms 18:2
#yolo
