I have a confession to make…
I did not say “yes” today! In fact, I know all the right things to say and many days they are flowing right out of my mouth. You can take one look at me and on the outside I’m also doing all the right things. I am a Master of creating the appearance that I am following through with the “yes”. Instead, I create the allusion of the right motions and barely touch the surface of my life through busyness and the facade that I have it all together. The “yes” that should be an automatic becomes a stubborn “no”. The obedience that is needed to follow God’s plan and not my own agenda becomes a struggle. The result…many times I am not working in true obedience to what God has called me to do.
This dilemma has caused me to pause and ponder “obedience”. My definition of “obedience” is a deep commitment to something or someone. It is the ultimate follow through with “yes” without hesitation. When looking into the synonyms for obedience on dictionary.com, I found suggestions such as compliance, conformity, submission and willingness. I am especially transformed by submission and willingness.
Submission = ALL IN
Willingness = GIVE IT YOUR ALL
As I reflect and understand what true obedience is all about I turn to the story of Jesus and Peter from the book of Matthew when Jesus walks on water. Jesus told His disciples to get in a boat and go on ahead without Him. He then went up on the mountain and spent the night in prayer. Just before dawn, Jesus went out to meet His disciples who were now far away from land in their boat. Jesus walked on the water toward them frightening His disciples who thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus calls out “don’t be afraid”. The story continues here:
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said.Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:28-33
This is a story of submission and willingness. Jesus asks us to go “all in” for Him everyday. We need to show our willingness in order to truly obey God’s story for our lives. Peter reminds me of a child at the edge of a pool. Mom or dad calls to him and says “jump in, the water feels great!” The child hesitates and instead dips his foot gently into the water to get a feel for the temperature. That one dip either follows with an unabandoned jump into the pool or walking away because the water is too cold. Peter started to walk toward Jesus willingly but as soon as one little bit of doubt entered his mind his ability to go “all in” quickly faded.
Obedience is a willing, all in proposition that God calls us to daily. It is difficult and requires absolute abandon of the daily triggers or challenges that come our way. It involves getting back up or jumping cannonball style into the pool of our doubts even when that is the last thing we want to do. The good news is that the benefits of obedience are abundant and we have a mighty God who is ready to jump into the pool with us. We were made for and by God to flourish in this world and open ourselves to the possibilities that God lays before us. The challenge is still present – will you go all in for Jesus? Will you delight in obedience to God each day?
I pray that we may extend each other grace on this road to obedience. That when our “yes” becomes hesitant and uncertain we may find the strength to let God step in. When the walk is easy, we will rejoice but when we are digging deep for our “willingness” to show up, we can reach out our hand for the person near us to help them as God helps us. Psalm 86:11-12 provides the perfect prayer to praise God and and seek His guidance when needed:
Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
Be blessed, love well and delight in obedience everyday!
Mary
Linking today with P31OBS and blessed to be part of the Made to Crave study!
I’m sorting out obedience and surrender this year too. In fact, it’s my one word this year. Going “all in” seems to be the only way. Thoroughly appreciate your closing prayer; praying the same for you!
Blessed that you stopped by! Thankful for your prayers and sharing your one word. Blessings!
Obedience is not always easy. And I find that surrendering is even harder. Right now, I’ve had to surrender everything into His hands, releasing full control back to Him. I am in a waiting season, but know that He’s with me and will bring me through. Thank you for sharing!
I know all too well that waiting season and how hard it is to surrender all to God. I pray that you find peace in your journey and God’s hand in all you do. Blessings!
“give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” That’s where my “no” comes from most of the time – a divided heart that fears what I can see (like Peter when he saw the wind and waves) more than God. How little my understanding of His awesome power is! Thank you for drawing me into the Word! Visiting from (in)courage writers. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by Cara! I must admit that I am more like Peter but I am striving toward the “all in” yes for Jesus everyday. Blessings!
I shared this blog with my husband at the Lord’s prompting and once he read it, he said, that he had been pondering the story of Peter walking on the water [just] this morning.. God is so good, isn’t HE? I was clueless, but I obeyed promptly or wait, ..after I questioned it, yikes, I just caught that the story fits ME!!! I didn’t obey promptly but I questioned if it WAS from HIM or me.. God got me with this one!!! 😀
Yay for God! He certainly showed up in a big way for you today. Thank you for visiting and may we all listen and follow through when God says “now!”
Blessings, Mary!
I found myself nodding in agreement about that “yes” without hesitation being the hardest part. Blessings! Visiting from {in}courage writers.
Thank you Mimi! I’m looking forward to getting to know you and the other (in)courage writers better as a member of this community.
Visiting from Barbie’s. Loved this. I just finished reading the book Anything, by Jennie Allen so my heart has really been in this place of being “all in.” I think it is a decision we make every day we wake and there are too many days when I still try to go at life on my own… why? I don’t know because the blessings are far greater when we surrender everything to Him.
Blessings to you.
You speak truth! Our blessings increase mightily when we let God take charge. Thank you for visiting today! Blessings, Mary!
I am the small group leader for group 43 and I first off wanted to say that you had a great blog! I love how you discussed obedience. Obedience is tough sometimes!
Obedience is definitely tough. I pray we can learn obedience from God and as we do we learn to delight that God always has our backs. Thank you for stopping by. Your kind words blessed me today.
Love what you said!
Thank you! I pray we all delight in obedience to God and learn how to do it willingly and with all we have. Blessings!
Mary, I am so blessed by your encouragement! I want to go ALL IN on my quest to be obedient to God’s Word.
Thank you! I pray we all learn what it means to go “all in” and that this process deepens our relationship with God. Blessings!
Thanks for the encouragement! I love the submission and willingness comparison. God is good and is always there for us. I hope you keep up the great work!
I hope we all keep up the good work in our journey to know God and understand His plans for us. Thank you for stopping by! Blessings!
There is such freedom in submission to the will of our Father, isn’t there? God bless you!
Yes there is!!! Going “all in” sounds scary but the blessings that we will receive as a result will far outweigh the hesitation we might initially feel. Thank you for stopping by. Blessings!