Obedience.

Just reading or saying that word might make you feel some type of way. When I was a kid, I had to obey at home. I had to obey at school. And by the time I reached my teenage years, I just wanted to do what I wanted to do.

Now, as a parent, I expect and want obedience from my children. So many times Jami and I find ourselves saying, “I just want them to simply obey what we’re asking of them. If they would just obey…” And most of our arguments in our house stem from their lack of obedience. If you’re a parent, I’m sure you can relate.

Obedience.

Whether you’re an adult or a student, it’s a word that elicits a number of feelings. And it seems that whether you’re a student or an adult, there are what seems to be countless people in our lives that expect obedience from us… including new expectations of obedience from our government. So, now when we hear or see the word obedience, it brings up negative feelings and/or feelings of rebellion.

Obedience can be tough. Especially when you don’t respect the person asking for it, or you don’t think they have your best interest in mind. And then there are some of us when we think of the word obedience we automatically go into the mindset of, “You’re not the boss of me.”

And so, when we hear that God wants our obedience… When we hear that we’re supposed to obey God… We’ve already got all these negative associations with the word. And we think, “God’s not the boss of me.” But obedience doesn’t have to be associated to a negative ball of emotions where we simply obey because we think we have to. I’ve come to the conclusion that when I struggle with obedience, it’s because I have a problem with the people asking for my obedience. It’s because I don’t trust them.

And when I was first told that I’m supposed to obey God and His Word, I was skeptical. I thought, “He doesn’t know me. He has no clue what I’m about.” But what I’ve found as I’ve grown in my relationship with God is that I was skeptical because I didn’t know who God was and is. I had no clue what He was and is about. As I read more and more of God’s Word, to learn more about God is to learn more about being obedient to Him. And as we learn more about being obedient to Him, a few things naturally happen.

First, as we seek to be obedient to God, we have our eyes opened to the goodness of His Word.

Psalm 119:18 says,

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

You see, if we’re going to be obedient to God, we need to read His Word and pray that He will open our eyes to see all of the wonderful things in His Word. And as we read God’s Word and ask Him to show us His love and wonderful things in His Word, our desire to be obedient to God will grow more and more.

Second, we will be blessed and be a blessing to others.

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. – James 1:25

When we read God’s Word and actually put it into practice, God will bless our actions and our obedience. Not only will we experience God’s blessing, but others will also experience God’s blessing through us.

Third, it’s in our obedience to God that we will find our greatness. Check this out:

Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:19

You see, I believe that God doesn’t care about how great you are in as much as He cares about how obedient you are to His voice. Over the last year and a half, as I’ve read God’s Word and have honestly prayed to Him, I’ve realized again what God is calling me to. It’s a life changing, God-sized calling. It’s a calling that is bigger than I could ever dream of. And a few months ago, as I was mowing my front yard, I was again praying and telling God that I simply want to be obedient to what He’s asking me to do. And so, as I mowed, this was the discussion I had with God…

Me: “Lord, I just want to do what you want me to do.”
God: “Ok. Then mow your neighbor’s front yard.”
Me: “What? That’s not what I was talking about.”
God: “I know. But it’s what I want.”
Me: “But God, I was talking about something else.”
God: “I know. But it’s what I’m talking about now.”
Me: “But God. I mean I want to obey you in the big areas.”
God: “Ya. And so do I. But I also want you to obey in the small areas too. The areas you think don’t matter.”

And as I finished mowing my front yard, I went over to my neighbor’s house and asked if I could mow the front yard. And as I began speaking with her, she began to tell me how thankful she would be as she couldn’t get her push mower to work. Had I not listened to God’s prompting… Had I not been obedient in this seemingly small thing, my neighbor would have continued to struggle. You see, you can’t pray, “God may I be obedient to You” and then choose not to be obedient. He will always give you an opportunity to be obedient. But you might just miss the opportunity because you think it is too small.

Finally, being obedient to God also builds our character and faith. You see, obedience is easy when there’s a clear path… a clear direction. But being obedient to God when there’s absolutely no path that’s visible to the human eye is character building… it’s faith building… it’s another level of relationship building between myself and Jami’s relationship with Jesus. And it brings to life Psalm 130:5:

I will wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope.

Craig Groeschel said, “A waiting season is never a wasted season.” It’s easy to look out and see no clear direction or movement to what God has called us to do and want to take things into our own hands and make it happen ourselves. But sometimes, maybe even oftentimes, God is calling you to wait… He is telling you to wait. And the waiting is what He wants you to be obedient to… Because even in the waiting God is moving.

If you’re a parent now, or if you will be a parent in the future, one of the biggest blessings you can give your children is by following the call of God on your life… One of the biggest gifts you can give your kids is to be obedient to God.

Obedience.

All of us will be obedient to the voice in our life that has our attention. I pray that the biggest voice in all of our lives is God’s voice.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. – Deuteronomy 8:6