Obedience

I've always thought that, as far as Christianity goes, relying wholly on God is the hardest part.


I don't know about you, but when it comes to my life it is really easy for me to say, "It's my life!  You can't tell me what to do or not do!  I know how to run it better than You!"  Let's face it - I'm a sinner, an outright sinner, and I'm naturally inclined to be selfish and prideful and stupid when it comes to doing what God wants me to do.


That said, over the years I've almost come to grips with the fact that I must obey God.  It's not an option for me as a Christian to pick and choose what I want to obey Him on and what I want to call my own shots on.  I still think sometimes, though, that I make excuses for myself.  Maybe there's something that I know God wants me to do and I would have done it anyway, so I obey.  Other times there's something that I know I'm called to do and it makes me...


uncomfortable...


scared...


vulnerable...


...and because it makes me feel those things, I choose not to obey, using those feelings as excuses for my disobedience.  Then I get to this morning and when I start reading, I find this:


"Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God."  Jeremiah 42:6


Did you hear that?  Yeah, that was Jeremiah punching me in the face with conviction.  I mean, how obvious does God have to get before I listen to Him?


"Whether it is good or bad, we will obey..."  I am being blatantly told today that obedience to God is never an option, excuses are never good enough, and obedience doesn't even mean that it's something I want to do.  My job is not to decide what commands I will or won't obey, it's just to obey.  Without question.  Without whining.  Without delay.


The good news, though, is that God is also encouraging me today.  It's like He came up and gave me an ice pack to deal with the punch I just got.


"...that it may be well with us when we obey the Lord our God."  How awesome is that?  Even though obeying God may take me down a road that seems bad to me, it will still end well.  God will still take care of me and make sure that everything is okay in the end.  It may hurt, make me scared, make me uncomfortable, make me vulnerable, but God is still in control.  He still holds the world in His hands and He still carries me through all of it.