Spiritual Obedience

This morning, I slept in. 

For those that know me, I am usually up between 4-5 am.  That is generally a productive time for me.  Each day is different.  Some days I sit at my desk and work, others I hit the gym and get a workout in before the rest of the house is up.  Some days, I sit and watch a show on TV or play Candy Crush on my laptop (yes, I still play Candy Crush – don’t judge). 

Lately, I have been ‘sleeping in’.  Joe always joked that meant I would get up at 5:30 instead, where he would sleep in until lunch.  But today, it meant 7 am. 

Of course, I wake up and instantly feel rushed knowing the twins were due at work in just over an hour. 

It’s ok though. I got my coffee and sat down for my prayer and journaling time. 

If I have learned anything in the last 29 days, it is that prayer and journaling starts my day off right.  This is the time I can write to Joe about things that we are up to, or other things I want to share with him – but it’s also time for me to get into the Bible and hear God’s voice.  Those quiet morning hours are mine and His.  I can hear what he has to tell me and give it the dedicated time that it deserves.  Some days this is just 5 minutes, and other days it’s much longer.  I don’t even set a timer or look at the time, I just let it flow.

The journaling aspect of this time has been incredibly powerful and therapeutic.  I’ll write more on this soon.

Today, I considered putting off this time until later in the day. 

I didn’t.

I am so thankful that I didn’t. 

I should also share that the twins slept in too.  They of course always push the clock when they have somewhere to be (teenagers), but today was abnormally late.  Little did I know that Andrew was also taking time for devotion. 

God revealed something to me today, and in its beauty, he was also revealing a similar thought to Andrew, and to a good friend. 

Taking these precious moments away to listen to God every day is part of my spiritual obedience.  In the busyness of life, if we take the time to demonstrate our faith and trust in God, He will reveal Himself to us.  It is easy to allow our inbox, social media, work or otherwise sneak into those moments, and before we know it, our time with God has become a second thought – or worse, not a thought at all. 

I am guilty of this.

I have often allowed life to get in the way of my time with God. 

I pray you never know the magnitude of the season our family is in but clinging to God during a time of trouble provides an immense of peace and comfort.  He is the reason we are standing and – dare I say - winning this battle of grief. 

It would be so easy to allow the grief to win. 

So very easy. 

But leaning into the obedience is much more fruitful.

Obedience to God is quite simple: hearing the word of God and acting on it.  Aligning our will to God’s and doing what he’s asked us to do.  Completely surrender to him (and his authority) and base our decisions and actions on His Word.

Obedience in and of itself, is an act of worship.  It demonstrates our love for God and sets us apart. 

Obedience is the hallmark of our salvation. 

Obedience is our way of showing God we love Him, and it is through our obedience that God recognizes us and enables us to enjoy His Love. 

Obedience allows God to reveal himself to us and activates His power to work in our lives. 

Obedience is a demonstration of our faith.  It means following His lead, even when we are not sure of the outcome. 

Obedience may require sacrifice; discipline and stretching ourselves outside of our comfort zone. 

Our choice to obey demonstrates our trust in Him.  It shows that even though its hard and doesn’t make sense, we will still do it. 

The Bible tells us that the rewards for obedience are so clear:

            You will be blessed wherever you go

            Your children will be blessed

            God will protect you

            He will grant you abundant prosperity

            Everything you set your hand on will be successful

            The Lord will help you stand out

Why would you choose anything else over obedience?    

Admittedly, these all sound great, but obedience is HARD. 

It takes sacrifice.

It takes intentional effort.

It requires us to have faith even when our souls are tired.

Obedience is also easy.

We can show obedience by reading the Bible every day.

Through prayer.  Prayer heightens our awareness with the word, helps us hear His voice clearer and shows us exactly what we must do. 

Simple, right? 

Back to my morning…

I keep seeing the number two, or variations of it.  I have never been a big ‘angel number’ person until recently.  Is it a thing?  It sure seems like it is.

In my looking up the number two and its significance, I journaled this:

You are not alone or abandoned during these trying times.  Reach out to God and allow the unconditional love to envelop you.

In my same moments of this journaling, a good friend reached out to share that she had been praying for me this morning.  God revealed something to her.  She shared that she didn’t want to tell me, just wanted to pray, but felt compelled to message me right away.  This is what she sent:

As I was praying for you this morning, God showed me an image of Him holding you in His arms.  I saw it as a pure vision of strength.  Him holding you up.  I’m praying for that for you.

In the same moments, Andrew was upstairs doing his daily devotional time.  God revealed to him a shield of protection.  He told me that God showed him how he was shielding us and protecting us during this time.  A shield, a force field surrounding us.

In the book of Matthew, the Bible tells us that when two or more are gathered (in agreement), that God is with them. 

How comforting is it to know that God is with us in these moments? 

No, it’s not Joe with us.  His big personality and unending love for his family is not tangibly here, but God is.  God has us surrounded with love and protection. 

I can also say without hesitation, that no email or social media post would surround us like that.  No work obligation would give you this comfort and peace.

My friends, if you are on a hard road, I encourage you to dip into the word. 

Be obedient to His calling and see where it takes you. 

I promise that full obedience will take you deeper and deeper into these moments of grace and love and protection – so deep that you will feel the comfort.  You will find the peace.  You will feel spiritually surrounded and find that protection you so long for. 

Before I leave, I want to share these writings are a strong push of obedience for me.  I am not sharing these for sympathy, but rather of obedience to what I hear God telling me do.  I fully believe that God wants me to share so that it will help someone.  So I ask that as you pray for our family, please also pray for the strength to keep writing and sharing. 

Thank you for staying with me. 

For encouraging me to write. 

I hope this helps you heal also.