Focus Verse: He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28 (NIV)
A few years ago, there was this guy, I really liked him. He had a relationship with God, a great personality, and I genuinely believed that he cared about me. Just as I do with anyone new that comes in my life, male or female, I prayed and asked God to reveal his purpose for being in my life. “God, if he was sent by You, reveal it, and if not, remove him immediately and allow me to accept whatever the outcome is.”
God didn’t remove him, however, He did reveal that he was a distraction, not anything that was sent by Him. I really liked him though and during that time in my life, I wanted what I wanted, despite the warning and guidance to move on. If I can be honest, I still struggle in this area of my life sometimes. This area of obedience.
How many times have you prayed and asked God for direction, if something or someone was for you, He answered and said “no”, but you still tried to force it? A lot of the heartache and pain that we deal with in life have absolutely nothing to do with the enemy, but everything to do with our own disobedience. Understand, God may not always remove distractions or those things that aren’t for you because He wants to see how obedient you will be, where your loyalty lies.
We can, however, be confident in knowing that when we pray and God gives us an answer, although it may not be the answer we were hoping for, there is comfort in knowing that He still hears and answers prayers.
Prayer: Thank You Lord for hearing my prayers and answering them. There have been times that I have heard You clearly, but I still did my own thing, Father forgive me. Thank You for continually revealing Your truth even when I deliberately disobey You. As I walk in obedience to You, give me peace in accepting whatever You desire is. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!
Ouch. Great message! Obedience is truly better than sacrifice.
Im glad it blessed you!
Finding joy in obedience is something that does take practice. And just like an athlete in training or a musician practicing his instrument, it’s not always fun or comfortable. But it does yield results. Someday, we’ll stand on a high hill and look back at the path we struggled so hard to walk. It is then that we will notice that the way He led us was not wrought with twist, turns, pits and pot holes like we thought, but was absolutely straight. And when we turn around again, we’ll see the joy in His face as He tells us, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into your Master’s rest!”
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
Suzi