The Blessing of Obedience

I am wondering how many of you have recently

battled with the Lord about something that

He has called you to do that seems 'hard'

or maybe even out of character?

I know for me, I had a very intense week

& found myself acting out

like an immature Christian,

whining & throwing a fit with God!

Now, c'mon - don't tell me I am the only one?

He was calling me to obey Him,

no matter what the cost &

no matter what I wanted myself!

We have all been feeling & hearing

the Lord remind us that we are

"crucified with Christ"

- I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

We will never walk that out in fullness,

but we have opportunities to catch a glimpse

of it from time to time!

I don't know about you,

but I have history with the Lord

that He is well aware of...

& seemingly last week,

He chose to ignore!

I kept trying to remind Him

of my issues & my struggles...

yet He just didn't care?!

What He was attempting to get done,

had little to do with me anyway!

God has called each of us to step out of our comfort zone

& reach out in obedience to follow Him!

Some have been asked to do outrageous things

& some have been asked to fairly tame things...

but no matter what He is calling you to do,

let me encourage you to follow through in obedience!

I must say that, on this side of my battle,

it was all good!

God moved and spoke

& I was blessed in the process!

I was not, however, a picture of Grace!
I kicked & complained the entire time...

On the other side of it,
I was disappointed in my lack of excitement

& hesitant, reluctant obedience!

I didn't really consider not obeying,

but my attitude was immature

& my lack of vision was blurred.

I was focused on what I wanted

- not just for myself,

but how I wanted to minister as well!

As I went to Prayer last week,

humbled & disappointed in myself,

the Lord began to speak encouragement to me.

During worship, I closed my eyes

and immediately my spirit saw Jesus - face to face,

smiling with joy, blessing & love spilling out...

"You did it! You did it!" He said to me,

nearly laughing with joy!

"I did it - but let me do it BETTER

next time, Lord!" I responded.

"Thank you," He said, His eyes of love

& the fact that His joy revealed

His pleasure in my obedience

is proof enough that it was worth it,

& that even with all of my

complaining & whining,

in the end, I brought Him honor!

Talk about humbling!

...and blessings!

You see - once again,

He sees the end result...

He works inside & outside of time

& He sees us as how we are in the end!

Of course, He desires us to be obedient

& to submit to Him in joy.

But, when we fail to do that...

when we hesitate, & complain,

& grudgingly follow through,

what stands out to Him the most

is the Follow Through!

It is the fact that, in the end,

we DID obey...

there is blessing in obedience,

every single time!

No matter what it is He is calling you to do,

or how much He needs to guide & direct you to do it,

in the end, I can promise you, a Blessing Awaits!

~Karrilee~