Tag: challenge

My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways. Proverbs 23:26

What does it look like to obey God?

I mean to really obey what He asks of you?

Does it look like taking control of your fleshly desires?

Exchanging your hopes and dreams for God’s?

Asking Him for His thoughts for your future?

Doing the thing He nudges you to do?

Does your life look like that?

Does it reflect an obedience and surrender to God?

I’m guessing you have parts that do.

The squishy parts that feel good.

Obeying your boss when it feels right.

Giving to charity when you really do have plenty of extra.

Regularly attending a church where you feel continually affirmed.

Loving your child when they love you back.

But what about the ugly parts?

Loving the underserved in your family?

Giving to others out of your poverty?

Pushing aside instant entertainment to drink in the wisdom of God’s word?

Praying for your people even when you’re tired?

Doing the right thing when the rest of the world thinks differently?

Standing for God’s truth even if your loved ones turn away?

We all tend to choose obedience and surrender when we want to. The challenge remains to obey and surrender when we don’t feel like it. When it goes against our flesh.

Obedience to God might look a little different in my life than yours.

God asks things of us that are personal to the impact He has in store for us.

Me? God asked me to start writing down His words of wisdom more than a dozen years ago.

Starting this blog, I was nervous as it seemed I was sharing my bare naked heart.

But I obeyed.

And here we are. My 500th post.

From this blog my book was birthed, selling over 91,000 so far, not including the recent Spanish edition or audio book.

Just signed my contract for a second book – prayers to go with each devotion.

And they are also creating a journal to go with my book.

All because I obeyed. Even though starting the blog felt really weird.

Trust God and obey. Surrender to what He has for you.

It might be a little scary, but when God asks you to do it, He’ll give you all the strength, wisdom, and peace you need.

Can’t wait to hear what He does through your obedience and surrender to Him. 🙂

Photos by Bartłomiej Balicki, joe ting, Tim Marshall, & Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash