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Writer's picturejkmaniaci

Walk this Way


Why is saying Yes to God's prompting and being obedient so hard sometimes?

Has He ever let me down in the past - NO!

Is scripture filled with "Do Not Fear" - YES!

When I am obedient, do I regret it - NO!

Then WHY?

There are things He has asked us to do, that seem so crazy and far-fetched that we may begin to believe we are not ok, but there are also times when He prompts us to do a very small thing to be obedient, like simply smiling at someone or offering a compliment, and yet we, what I really mean is I, resist.

At the beginning of the last couple of calendar years, I have asked God to give me a "word" - a word to encourage me, to strengthen my relationship with Him, to take me deeper. 2017 was "Crazy Faith" and let me tell you, He gave me many opportunities to be active with that word, see for one thing, to simply repeat the word is not a big deal, but to live it out is a completely different animal. And just a warning, when you share your word, or what you believe God is asking you to do, with people who love you and want His best for you, there is no shortage of reminders to His promises over your life. Which I am very grateful for, but there were times and still are, when hearing what He promised, makes we want to lie down in the middle of the floor and throw a temper tantrum like a 3 year old who was just told no.

This year my word is "Obedience" - and as any child does with a parent, I questioned it, not once or twice, but 12 times! And I laugh now, because what if our son had questioned me 12 times about something I had asked him to do - my parenting style would have dished out some consequences, yet I found as I continued to question, if obedience was really my word, I was actually choosing a place of complete disobedience! But His grace showered me like confetti (I love this analogy and have used it quite often, thank you Aubrie, for this incredible word picture)

As the first 2 1/2 months of 2018 have unfolded, I have been challenged - challenged to be obedient to the small promptings He gives me, to do the right thing, to go the extra mile, to do the very thing I don't want to do, or don't feel equipped to do. I have also been challenged to believe what the Word of God says about me personally, about my circumstances, about my relationship with Him, about my relationship with others. I have been challenged to help others, when I selfishly want to sit on our couch and watch tv, to forgive when holding a grudge and being angry seems justified, to speak life over a person or circumstance, when those words are simply based on faith, because in the natural I don't see how He will do it. Do I choose to Trust Him and take Him at His Word or do I remain in the comfortable, some of which is healthy, but most of which is dysfunctional and completely against what He says, yet even in that, is warm and comfy, like a favorite blanket on a cold winter day. Have I become a robot, walking through life doing what I have always done, and expecting a different result? Have I become so accustomed to the culture around me that I fit in and don't stand out for Him?

Soon after we moved to Newnan, I remember going on a hunt for garage sales armed with the local newspaper with the addresses of the sales and a GPS. I remember heading to the south side of town, a place I had never been. The GPS was directing our steps and I followed them turn by turn, without even thinking. And normally when searching out sales, there will be a small neon sign with an arrow pointing us toward the sale site, but on this occasion there was no sign at the end of the residential street we were turning on, but I followed what the nice computerized voice was telling me. As we turned, all I saw at the end of the street, past several homes, was a fence with a very large pasture. Her next instructions were something I had never heard before or to this day, from a GPS or map app of any kind. The words were "Park the car and prepare to walk". I still laugh thinking about it. Were we to hop the fence and venture across this vast pasture, to a house we couldn't see? What animals were being kept within the constraints of this fence? Cows or horses? Or perhaps a charging bull named Goliath? Was there even a house over the hill in the distance?

Yet, in our Faith Walk with God, does He not call us to be obedient, to park our car - our selfishness, our anger, our unforgiveness, our regrets, our past, our plans, our "rights", our wants, our (you fill in the blank) and prepare to walk where He is calling to an unknown pasture, to fulfill our purpose specifically designed by Him for each one of us to do, with the ultimate goal of bringing His lost kids home? What lies ahead where He is calling? Does the pasture seem vast and you can't "see" the destination? Will there be "charging bulls named Goliath" in our way - absolutely and He never promised it would be easy but He did promise it would be worth it and not to fear!!

Isaiah 30:21 says "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'"

I need to turn down and drown out the computerized voice in my head, the ones that speak lies over myself, failure, unworthy, ill-equipped, and the list goes on and on, and turn up the volume of His voice and Truth to walk boldly and obediently into the vast pasture He is calling me to!

What car is He asking you to park today, to reach the next destination He has for you in your purpose? Let me encourage you to park that car and prepare to walk where He is calling!

No greater ride!

No greater reward!

No greater testimony to His love and faithfulness!!!

YOU ARE LOVED!!!


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