1 Timothy 4:12 Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
Gosh it is so easy to get discouraged. So easy to think God has forgotten about you. These little spells of discouragement that we encounter are absolutely nothing compared to the greatness God has in store for us. Believe me, I have been through what seem to be some hard times. As I encounter some of what seem to be the lowest times it can seem hard to encourage myself, let alone others. I am only 22 years old and sometimes I feel like all odds are against me. I truly believe as we grow closer to Christ and the more we set out to fully live for Him the more we will be tested. The harder things will seem. But with God on our side we are able to do much more than we could ever even imagine. No matter how old you are or where you are in your walk a few bad days don't equal a bad life at all. The hard times are what make you stronger. They give you something to look back at and realize how God has favored you. They are sweet things that remind us that He is there and always has been.
I posted a post saying on my instagram account the other day, “how bad do you want it” we will encounter hard times. In every stage of our walk, in all of the good there will be a bit of hardship. We must not look at these times as bad but as lessons preparing us for God's best!
Obey – to follow the commands or guidance of; to conform or to comply
with.
The importance of obedience of true obedience is something I
began to learn at the beginning of this year. I always heard about obedience,
my mom always talked about how I must be obedient. We “know” what obedience is…
or at least we think we know. Obedience to your parents is definitely
important, following the laws of the land is definitely important. Those seem
like no brainers right… Being obedient is easy, as long as you make a decision
to be obedient… right? Well I thought so too until tested with my obedience to
God.
The first test of obedience was when God told me to quit my
job towards the end of 2013. Quit my job…
WHAT? Oh no, surly I’m tripping. Maybe I’m being lazy, I cant quit my job. Man
who doesn’t work doesn’t eat. I can’t be labeled a quitter. What will everyone
say? What will my parents think? How will I make it? Will my dad disown me? How
will I pay my bills? I struggle while having a job, there is no way in the
world I can make it without one.These are all of the things that I thought
when faced with if this was something I wanted to do or something God was
telling me to do. Jeremiah 42:6 Whether we like it or not, we will obey the LORD our God
to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will
turn out well for us. I often prayed for Gods will to be done in my
life, for Him to show me exactly what he wanted for me to do that I may do it
but once He started showing me I didn’t think I was ready for it. I had to keep
in mind that I am able to do ALL things,
not in my own strength but through His strength working inside of me. I will talk more
about my experience of quitting my job and how I knew it needed to be done and
the benefits of doing so in a later post.
The second test of obedience was leaving Isaiah
46:3 “Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel.I
have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were
born. 4 I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white
with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save
you. on a co-workers desk. This co-worker didn’t want to live for God
in any way. He didn’t think God loved Him and He would express this to me and
another co-worker often along with all of the things that He truly enjoyed and
the ways He was different and how if God loved him then these things wouldn’t
take place. Leaving this scripture on His desk was something I didn’t
understand and battled on if I should do; however, I did it. I wasn’t sure if
he would respond well, if he would report me to HR, if he would retaliate in
any way at all but I trusted God in telling me to do so. A few days later I
received a text from a friend of mine, another co-worker telling me that the
guy really enjoyed the scripture and that He believes it was true. This may not
be big to you but it blew my mind. His heart was so far from Christ and to know
that reading that scripture and my obedience led to him seeing it and believing
it completely blew my mind. A few months after that I found out that he went to
church and let go of all of his past hurts and was going to try and fully live
his life for Christ.
I have been tested in the area of obedience a few times
after that but these are most important because in being obedient in both of
these areas God has been able to completely blow my mind with how much He loves
me and how much He is willing and able to do for those who love Him. We read
about how much God did for His people but not until seeing it in my life did it
really hit home for me. Sometimes we may feel like we have fallen short in areas of our life so to be obedient and/or be bold about what God is telling us seems hard or not exactly right. In moments where God is directing us we must not look at our current situation and think we aren't able to follow instruction. God knows what He is doing and it may be the small act of obedience that pushes you towards coming out of whatever you're in and probably shouldn't be in. Afterall, is thinking that you're not worthy and being obedient anyway worse than not thinking you're worthy and being disobedient on top of that. How will God ever use you with that mindset? Surrender all. Allow God to use you!
Some of the things that helped me in being obedient were the
fact that if I wasn’t obedient I was afraid of what would happen to me. When
God gives us the ability to do something, or instruction it is not always just
for us, it is often times for others. When we get so tied up in how it benefits
ourselves opposed to God’s children, our brothers and sisters in Christ we end
up missing it. Sometimes I catch myself being selfish and prior to writing this
blog I was in a very selfish state of mind. Having a hard time with the cards I had been dealt. In this moment it was pressed on my heart to write, and out of doing so came this blog (I feel so much better). The second thing that assisted in
me being obedient was reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, he states
that delayed obedience is still disobedience. After reading that my heart
broke, I never wanted to be disobedient to my parents, there was no way I could
live with being disobedient to God. Even delaying my obedience could mean I was
being disobedient. Oh no, that definitely is in the back of my head when I hear God's instruction. Sure,
I fall short. Sure, I question if its God or not, but in these moments I simply
take it to Him. If I am worried about what I am praying about my instruction
from God is delayed and then whatever I was supposed to do in obedience becomes
even stronger and seems to weigh me down. I don’t like experiencing that, so I
am trying to get better and trust Him all the way through being obedient as
soon as He directs me to and not later. Once upon a time I prayed hard for faith like Abraham, I can honestly say that I have been tested in both faith and obedience. It definitely takes faith in order to be obedient. When you are obedient to Christ you have to lay down your own desires trusting that God's plan is greater than your own. Trusting that He knows just what you want and need and exactly what you need to experience before having it that you may cherish it. When you are feeling low remember that God does things out of love, we are not being punished. We cherish love, but we must remember that God Is Love! (1 John 4:8)
#HaveYouDiedLately
We are Gods children, He cherishes us, He loves us. We must
not lose hope or get discouraged for He is with us. These are words of
encouragement from me to you because I would be lying if I said I don’t get
discouraged also. When it seems like the entire world is against you remember
that your creator will always be for you. When it seems like everyone else is
doing so much better than you, DON’T GIVE UP! You never know who is depending
on you, keep Gods word close to your heart you will need it when you feel like
nothing else is worth it. 1
John 3:16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So
we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. Stay
encouraged brother and sister. Remembering how much it's worth.
No comments:
Post a Comment