TANZANIA
| Morogoro
Throughout
most of my life, whether I would ever admit it or not, I have had a
strange resistance to God’s will when dealing with specific
instructions in fear that it would stifle my life and my happiness.
Big life decisions don’t seem that hard to give over to God’s
desires, but in the case of little things it seems that much harder,
like in the case of handing over to him our daily idiosyncracies. To
obey on a daily basis instead of just in a seasonal basis, seemed to
be just too difficult.
I
recently have had God speaking to me about obeying his voice, no
matter what he says, even if I don’t understand or if I don’t desire
to. Yesterday was an opportunity to practice what I was being taught.
He told me to prove that I had changed in action and not just in
words. He asked me to give up my flesh and take up his spirit. It was
in the Wednesday night service that he began to speak so clearly. But
as I sat there, hearing his voice, I caught myself eagerly denying
his wishes for the sake of my desires. Claiming that it was not in my
control (even though it was) and that it was too hard to follow his
path. He continued speaking and then he gave me Joshua 1:9 “Be
strong and courageous.” God desires for me to be strong in my
faith, to be bold. To be courageous in the face of fear in
self-denial.
So,
against my fleshly wishes, I obeyed and what happened next was
something that I had never thought would occur, but I felt free. God
filled me up so much more than I would have ever been filled with the
things of this world. He gave me such a joy and a peace in light of
my steps of obedience. I wasn’t stifled as I had orginally figured I
would feel, but instead felt this new found freedom.
What
joy can be found when knowing with out a doubt that you are in the
will of God, under his umbrella of approval and protection and what
an encouragement it is for the next time I doubt the RHEMA of God.
