Obedience In The Unknown
What if obedience was the precursor to something God wanted to do for you later in life? Would you choose to snap to attention right away? No questions asked? Easy, right? But only if we know the why behind the ask.
What happens when instructions are given with no immediate explanation and no end to the trial in sight? How do we respond?
I’m the type of girl who likes knowing where and who and when and why before I get there. A road map if you please! The lack of clarity drives me absolutely insane. God, I have to know! But what if God says no to our request for a season? Or chooses to withhold the answer until the day we meet Him in glory?
I used to be the girl who had her whole life planned out to a T.
I built plans up like a potter molding the clay in perfect fashion.
Years pass.
Gone is the clay and the kiln.
Maybe sculpting isn’t the profession God intended for me. After all, I was never really an artist. Resisting the desire to scream “Why!?” when God gives me instruction. I mean, why is it so hard for me to trust? Has He ever steered me wrong?
No.
Has He ever given me a reason to distrust?
Because His plans for me are starting to look a lot like what I tried to run away from when I was a schoolgirl. His plans involve being very open handed and extending grace when I didn’t think it should have been given. His plans involve saying yes, when every fiber in my being wants to scream NO.’ You couldn’t possibly ask me to do this God! What you’ve asked of me is simply too much! It’s more than this tiny nothing girl frame can handle. It’s beyond what my mind could ever perceive, I don’t think I can. His requests become a metaphorical thorn in the flesh.
“Remove this, ask someone else. Anybody else.” I beg.
“No.”
He answers gently, wiping away my tears as I sob. “Anyone else, and the plans I’ve got under wraps for you wouldn’t be accomplished. This is for you. So when I ask you do something, dear girl, it’s best you do it. The thorn stings, sure, but only for a season.
Have you been there? Has God called you to something so seemingly impossible the thought of taking one more step feels like crossing the Red Sea? A shot in the dark, and vision is limited so is the risk really worth it? Can you truly trust God, take Him at his word? Does He really mean what He says when He said His plans were good and not to harm us? Yes! A thousand times yes.
The thorn was given so that Paul could press further into God even when the pain was more than he could physically bear. The prison cell was orchestrated so that Joseph could be prepared to lead, and this trial, this terrible plague of a season was given to you and I so that we would in turn learn to obey. It's treacherous, dark and unbearable at times, but it’s needed.
Obedience in the thick and muddy of trying times. A good attitude when the waves won’t stop churning and the boats about to burst into bits. What if the trial we’re going through at present is preparing us for a future that only the King can see? Even if that future goes against everything and anything we’ve tried to come up with on our own? Can we trust Him if He begins to give us glimpses of that future? No quivering and fumbling feet good soldier. Stand at attention please. Trust and obey.
There’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!
But, you don’t get it, Kel, the instructions God gave are insane! Girl. I could tell you stories.
Remember Joshua and the walls of Jericho?
“Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord. And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord. And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.” -Joshua 6:1-10 KJV
The walls only came down because the Israelites chose to look foolish for the cause of Christ. They followed the Lord’s leading when the instructions seemed insane. Shouting when He commanded and staying silent when He bid them quiet.
I’m learning to be this kind of girl. It’s not easy. It’s a slow process of the bending of my will so it takes the shape of His. It’s the gentle loosening of my clenched fist. It’s a daily decision to say yes when every fiber of my being wants to go my own way. I used to be so afraid. I used to be the girl who took pride in steering her own ship, if turning my cheek and choosing to run meant I didn’t have to forgive, then so be it. In the end my sand castle plans and dreams are for nothing, He sends a storm, knocking it all down. His ways are higher. His ways are certainly better. How could I not heed His calling? He does the bending ever so gently. But I don’t break.
It’s not always going to be a cake walk. Perhaps you’re going through something equally trying. It might be the last thing you’d rather do or the last place you’d rather be, only you and God know.
I implore you, be brave anyway dear woman of Christ. He chose you for this. Trials aren’t designed to kill, oh certainly not, on the contrary. They are meant to drive us to Jesus with such a force we have no other choice but to scream out His name. To lean in. The Comforter comes, right on time.
“But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” Jeremiah 7:23 KJV
I will because I love Him. I will because He asked me to. I have decided to trust Jesus because He means more to me than anything this world could possibly offer me. My eyes are on Him not the storm. All to Him I owe. Only one life to offer. So be it with you, women of God. No more fear. Only the affirmative. No turning back. No turning back. We want to say some day when the fiery testing is finished and our feet finally touch the streets of gold, ready to meet God, that only He knew best. So if He’s quiet during the test, only trust Him. He’s got a purpose for it all.
“What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. You do not understand what I am doing now, but someday you will.” John 13:7 KJV
Be the woman who stands tall and trusts without delay even if you never see the fruit of the why. Even if the clarity never comes for you. In the end, the why is for Christ. The answer is Christ. We do what we do, because our pulsing heart beats for Him and Him only. He alone is the answer. That is enough.
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelly Beth has been a connoisseur of coffee shops, since grade school, and a writer of words for the past twenty. When she's not writing devotionals or fiction, she enjoys video games, and spending time with friends and family. You can read more of her writing at kellydetzel.com