Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21
God is not looking for talent, charisma, personality, or skill; He is looking for obedience. Here is a great truth: obeying God is the most spiritual thing you can do. But it is not the easiest thing to do. Obedience has adventure in it. God often moves in a way that disrupts and interrupts our lives. We look for the convenient: God looks for the compelling.
Obedience has anxiety in it. We view insecurity and instability as being outside the will of God, when it may be the very center of God’s will for us. God drags His disciples from a comfortable and calculable life into an adventurous one. The biblical program is that God is on mission and ask us to join Him. When we join God on His mission, He has to get us from where we are to where He is – usually that’s quite a stretch.
Obedience has adjustment in it. Obedience requires us to make the need adjustments in our lives to align with God’s will. How long has it been since you sat down in a quiet place with an open Bible and an open heart and allowed God to speak into your situation?
Obedience has allegiance in it. The essential prerequisite to know the will of God is a willingness to do it. Regardless of our circumstances, our faith must stand tall. God needs no heroes (He is the hero), just obedient children. Solomon said the conclusion to all his wisdom was, “Fear God and keep His commandment” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Obedience has abundance in it. Our perceived adversity could be full of God-given opportunity because God only blesses obedience. Hymn writer John Sammis had it right: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
Heavenly Father, I want to be an obedient child. But like Paul, I often find that I do that which I should not do and don’t do what I should. Whisper in my ear today, “This is the way, walk in it.” Hedge me in so I must walk the path You have for me. Strengthen me to walk in faithful obedience to Your will. Amen.