Feb 10, 2013

The Obedience Test



Do you still have that godly fear of God?  When His Holy Spirit is nudging you do you obey? I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not always easy to obey especially if what I’m being asked to do is something that is out of my comfort zone.  However, obedience is what God expects, period.

If we want God’s master plan to be fulfilled in our lives then we have to be obedient to His call. What is He saying to you?  What is he asking you to do?  Your success depends on your obedience. 

 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. Genesis 12:1
 In the above verse God called Abraham out of his comfort zone, to leave behind all that He knew and go someplace he’d never been to set up a new life. However, I’ll admit He’s still working on me when it comes to obedience. It is hard to obey sometimes when we can’t see the end results of our obedience right away. 

If we know that when God impressed upon us to witness the person would accept Christ it would be easy to witness.

If we knew that the sick person He tells us to pray for would get healed immediately it would be easy to obey.

If we knew that when we gave the last $10.00 in our wallets to the person He told us to give it to that we’d get it back pressed down shaken together the next day we’d give it without flinching.  

If we knew the new ministry He laid on our heart would be successful and well received we’d go for it full force…

But we don’t.  We can only have faith in what He has promised.

However, God is not going to show us the end results of our obedience so He can get us to obey. In Isaiah 1:19 He says If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.  Hence, He wants us to have faith in Him and obey… trusting that He will bring about the desired results. 

Abraham didn’t know where he was going and what he was going to meet when he got there but he trusted God and was obedient to his voice...

So Abram left, as the LORD had told him;  Genesis 12:4 (NIV)
 What is God calling you to do?


Trusting Him,
 ~Bernadine~

I shared this post over at Laced With Grace a few years ago and thought I'd share it here today.

8 comments:

  1. That's a tough question, Bernadine! When I think of the faith of Abraham, I tremble. Stepping out of our comfort zones takes great faith as you say.
    Andie

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    1. I totally know what you mean about trembling when thinking about the faith of Abraham Andie. His action based faith leaves such a lasting impression.

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  2. That is so true ... it is hard to obey sometimes when we don't get to see the end of our obedience right away. That is what makes it faith. Bruce Waltke, a commentator on Proverbs, calls the time between our obedience and God's deliverance of a promise "the gap." And he says faith, discipline and strength are developed during that time. That is kind of what you wrote about here. Good post.

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    1. Thanks Warren, love the quote you shared by Bruce Waltke.

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  3. This is like a fresh breath of air. How freeing it is to be on the other side of that decision to obey. It feels like a trap before you step into obey and then you finish that step and sometimes then you have a glimmer of understanding...not always. But oh to feel His pleasure that we sought to find what pleases the Lord! Yipikiaaaaa!! Blessings to you!!!

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  4. Yes, we never know how our small steps of obedience will bless others! It's hard for me sometimes to reach out of my comfort zone too and bless someone, but when I do, the Holy Spirit fills me with peace and joy! Thank you for blessing me with you words today!

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    1. I so understand the difficulty of getting out of your comfort zone Alisa. I sometimes have to be dragged out of my own and then I wonder why it took so long.

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