Tag Archives: obeying God no matter what

April 21, 2025 · 5:48 AM

Obedience Through Action

One of the great missionary stories I remember learning about from my childhood was the story of Jim Elliot. He and his wife felt the call of God to take the Gospel to an unreached people in Ecuador. In 1956, Jim and four other men went in to tell the Huaorani people about Jesus. They were killed by the tribe. After two years passed, Jim’s wife felt like God wanted her to go to that same tribe and try again. She, their daughter and the sister of one of the slain men went back to the Huaorani tribe and shared the Gospel. Many people gave their heart to the Lord, including some who killed her husband.

In Joshua 5, the Israelites had crossed the Jordan and were headed toward Jericho for their first battle in the Promised Land. As Joshua was getting near the town, he saw a man with a sword in his hand. Joshua asked Him, “Are you with us or against us. He replied, “‘Neither one,’ he replied. ‘I am the commander of the Lord’s army.’ At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. ‘I am at your command,’ Joshua said. ‘What do you want your servant to do?’” (NLT) He then tells Joshua to march around the city for seven days. On the seventh day, they needed to march around it seven times and then shout. If they obeyed, the walls would come down. It might not have seemed like it would work, but God was looking for obedience through action in order to give the victory.

Isaiah 1:9 says, “If you have a willing heart to let me help you, and if you will obey me, you will feast on the blessings of an abundant harvest” (TPT). What God asks us to do doesn’t always make sense. We must remember that His ways are higher than ours, and His thoughts are higher too. He sees what we can’t. Obedience is an act of trust, especially when we don’t understand. However, when we do trust and obey, His blessings follow. I wish we could have an experience with an angel like Joshua, but most of us will be like Elisabeth Elliott and need to obey having only heard God speak to our heart. Are you willing to be obedient even when it doesn’t make sense? Are you willing to trust God for to bring down walls using His strategy rather than yours? If so, your obedience through action will yield the results only God can give.

Photo by Kid Circus on Unsplash

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November 6, 2019 · 5:54 AM

Weird Requests

A couple of years ago, my wife and I left visiting with my family a couple of nights before Christmas to go pray for a friend. On our way back to my family’s house, we were approaching the light to turn onto their road when I felt the Holy Spirit say, “Stop right here.” I was about 15 yards back from the light in the middle turn lane. My wife looked at me with a puzzled look and asked, “What are you doing?” I said, “I don’t know. I was told to stop right here.” So we sat there for almost a minute. I rolled my window down to listen. We saw police lights about a mile ahead coming towards us. Just then, a car appeared out of no where traveling at a high speed with no lights on coming up the wrong way to avoid people in their lane at the light. It swerved right in front of us and missed us by inches. It was so fast and close that our SUV shook from the wind of it passing. As we realized if I had been where I was supposed to be, they would have hit us head on.

The Gospel of Luke tells us a story of some fishermen who had been cleaning their nets after unsuccessfully fishing all night. Up walks Jesus preaching to a large crowd. He notices their empty boats and asks if they can take Him out into the water just a bit so He can teach the crowd from there. After He taught the crowd, Luke 5:4 says He told them, “Now row out to deep water to cast your nets and you will have a great catch” (TPT). Peter, the seasoned fisherman, explained that it didn’t make sense and that you fish at night. But then he added, “But if you insist, we’ll go out again and let down our nets because of your word.” When they did, their nets became so full of fish that their nets began to tear. He had to yell for help to the other boat on shore. They had so many fish in their boats that they were on the verge of sinking.

Both of these stories are related. God doesn’t always ask us to do things that make sense. They often go against the way things are normally done. We can argue with God about how it makes us look or we can trust what He’s telling us to do and obey Him at His Word. God asks for obedience from us even when we don’t understand. Sometimes it’s to save our life and other times it’s to bless us or others. As you go about your day, listen to what God is speaking to you. Ask Him for the courage to obey His requests no matter what they are. You and I can only see what’s right in front of us. God sees how everything is connected and into the future. He knows what’s best so we need to obey Him no matter what. You never know what’s riding on your obedience.

Photo by Fredrik Öhlander on Unsplash

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