Making Life easier...

 Today, as I was praying about the word He wanted me to share, God said to me "obedience is key." Awww, man! God, are You really going to hit me with that one this morning? And the answer was yes...sigh! Then He reminded me of what He told me when I first started writing Rhema and that was to always be transparent. Really, Lord?! Today? The answer was yes again. So I guess this is transparency day. I have admitted this quite a few times but for those that don't know, I was notorious for trying to work things out on my own instead of just letting God do what He does best. It took a lot of mountains and repeated tests for me to finally get that I just have to trust God...period. I know now that if I would have just done what God said, I wouldn't have ended up in a lot of those "mountain" situations. So today is about encouraging you to obey...

God then sent me to 1 Samuel 15 and a crucial conversation between King Saul and Samuel. The Lord had grown tired of Saul's constant disobedience and disloyalty and told Samuel to tell him that his time as king was over. Saul defends himself by saying all of the things that he did that God told him to do. Have you ever felt that way when God gave you an instruction and you did some of it? Samuel basically tells Saul that partial obedience is not obedience.  “But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams." (‭‭1 Sam‬ ‭15:22 ‭NLT‬‬)

This scripture speaks to me every time I read it because it reminds me that God just wants me to hear His voice and do what He says. You see, Saul thought that by doing a mix of what God said and what he wanted to do was sufficient in God's eyes. But God wants all of you and He wants you to listen out for and obey His voice and commands. I'm convinced that so much would be different in the world, if people would just obey. 

Back in 2013, God showed me a retreat that He wanted me to do. I didn't agree and went along on my own way. I didn't see myself in the role of retreat leader, especially not the planner. I could see working with the church on something but definitely not doing it on my own! I pushed it off and ignored God's urgings and reminders about the retreat until finally I couldn't get away from it. I had to go through so many avoidable experiences because I wouldn't just go with what God was saying. Now, 2 years later, that retreat is coming to fruition this weekend and it's only because I finally listened and obeyed.

God may be telling you to do some things that you don't understand. He may be sending you somewhere that makes no sense to you. He may even be challenging you to step into some things that you have never expected for yourself. Can I just tell you that God has a plan for your life and it involves a hope and a future? What is happening right now may look completely different from how you would like it to be or expect it to be but it is all in the plan. You have to understand that God is a long range planner. He knows the end from the beginning so He is positioning you today in preparation for where you will be. You can't see all of the things that He sees so... isn't it easier to just do what He says? It's just like when you do the trust walk. Do you remember those? It's when you are blindfolded and being led around various obstacles by your partner that can see. In order to win or reach your goal and avoid falling, you have to do exactly what your partner says. I encourage you to trust and obey Jehovah Roi, the God who sees! He will never steer you wrong!

 

Amen...