Radical Obedience

“Why should I obey you?  Who died and made you god?” 

 

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Having raised four teenagers, these words and I have become very acquainted with each other.  But the funny thing is that I have found them echoing in my heart as well.  I’m just not as verbal about it as they are.

 

I don’t know about you but obedience has never been easy for me.  I would much rather lead than follow.  I have tendency to question and feel like there’s got to be a good reason to obey or forget it! 


Maybe the reason I find obedience so difficult is because at the core of obedience is submission - surrender to someone else’s guidelines and commands.

 

In my reading of the Book of Matthew, I discovered a shocking display of unquestioning obedience.  Look at Matthew 1:24 (The Message) Then Joseph woke up.  He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream:  He married Mary.

 

No questions, no doubt, no hesitation just simple obedience.

 

Think about it, the Jews had not heard from God in over four hundred years!  He’s been silent . . . not even a whisper and then one night a man named Joseph, goes to sleep, has a dream and obeys.  No wondering if it was something bad he’d eaten the night before, no questioning whether it was all just a figment of his imagination, just radical obedience.

 

And his obedience didn’t stop with his marriage to Mary.  In the next chapter we get another glimpse of his proclivity to obey. 

 

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, “Get up.  Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt.  Stay until further notice.  Herod is on the hunt for this child and wants to kill him.” 

Joseph obeyed.  He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness.  They were out of town and well on their way by daylight.  Matthew 2:13-15 (The Message)

 

I couldn’t help but wonder, as I read this, what if Joseph hadn’t obeyed?  What if he had lain awake debating whether he should wake up Mary and the baby, after all, it was the middle of the night?  What if he had decided to just wait and go in the morning?

 

Obedience is hard, inconvenient and difficult.  It’s not the politically correct thing to do in this world of “do your own thing”.  And yet, God calls his followers to a life of radical obedience, a life of surrender and submission to His will and His ways. 

 

But the unexpected blessing of obedience is that it sets us free!  Free to live life to its fullest.   It sets us free from the things that have held us captive for far too long.  Obedience God’s way is life-giving and full. 

 

I learned firsthand the importance of obedience from a friend of mine.  My friend and her husband were on a road trip.  They were enjoying the beautiful day together, when all of a sudden her husband, who was driving, yelled, “GET DOWN!”  She immediately ducked down and put her head in her lap (even though she had no idea why) and the car slammed into a jack-knifed semi in the middle of the road.  If she had hesitated for even a moment, her life would’ve been over. 

 

As I listened to this story I couldn’t help but wonder if I would’ve obeyed.  I’d like to think I would but the truth is I probably would’ve been in the middle of asking my husband why should . . .

 

Obedience is at the core of a true follower of Jesus. 

 

But does my life reflect that I’m a follower of Him or just an admirer?  I don’t want to be just a fan, I want more!  But I know that anything valuable comes with a price – there’s always a cost. 

 

Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life.  Otherwise you cannot be my disciple.  And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

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But don’t begin until you count the cost . . .”  (Luke 14:26-28 NLT)

 

Are you ready to count the cost and live a life of radical obedience to the One who willingly laid down his life for you?

 

Detours, Billboards and a Man Named Paul

In Michigan, we jokingly say, there are two seasons – winter and road construction!  And with road construction come detours and lots of them.  Can I just say . . . I hate detours!  They’re inconvenient, unplanned and usually make me late! (Mainly, that’s because of poor planning on my part but it’s great to have something else to blame.)



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I don’t like detours in my life anymore than I like them on the roadways.   Detours have a way of making me feel like my life is spinning out of control.  Have you ever seen a Nascar race where one or more cars slam into the side wall and begin spiraling out of control? You get the feeling everyone is holding their breath until the car finally stops.  I do the same thing with my own detours. I often find myself holding my breath, hoping the damage will be minimal and everything will stop spinning soon.  Detours have a way of reminding me that I’m not in control.

 

In my reading of the book of Acts, I was struck by Paul’s reactions to detours in his life (and he had a lot of them). 

 

Paul was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians when he faced his first detour and met Jesus.   Paul had his plans but God had other plans.  Paul readily accepted the journey change and his life was never the same again.  He embraced wholeheartedly the path that God had for him. 

 

From then on we see a Paul that holds his own agenda lightly and willingly accepts each detour that is sent his way. 

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He was thrown in jail and forgotten for two years but that didn’t hinder him from preaching the gospel to every person that God brought across his path.  He was shipwrecked and instead of twiddling his thumbs and waiting around for God to get him off the Island, he shared the Good News with those who lived there.  At one point, the Holy Spirit stepped in to tell him to go to a different place than what he had planned.  It’s as if, each detour in Paul’s life was a “billboard” from God clearly showing him where he should go and what he should do.

 

I’ve often wished that God would be so clear and direct with me.  There have been many times where I’ve exclaimed, “God would you just make it clear what you want me to do and I’ll do it!  Could you send me a postcard or write on a billboard so that I’ll know?”  But taking a fresh look at Paul’s life has made me understand that just as detours were God’s “billboard” in Paul’s life, so they are in mine.  If only, I would see the detours as clear direction from God about where He wants me to be and what He wants me to do, think how much more productive and effective my life would be! Instead of wishing my detours away, I want to embrace them and live the life God intended me to live.

 

Let me ask you, what if  your detours are God’s way of telling you that you’ve controlled things long enough and now it’s time to pry your hands off the wheel?  What if they are His “billboard” to you?  Are you resisting His direction in your life and wasting precious time wanting things done your way or are you accepting His plan and following wherever that might take you?

 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

 

Let go, jump in, embrace the detours and hold on tight – you’re in for a spectacular ride!

 

It Started with a Bug . . .

I agreed to pick our son up from school.  My husband was relieved not to have to get him, since he had an appointment that he’d had to rearrange several times before and he really didn’t want to have to do it again. 

 

Our schedules are crazy these days, we have two children in two different schools, in opposite  directions from each other, starting and getting out at different times.  My husband is self-employed and hasn’t worked an eight-to-five job in over ten years (well actually I don’t think he’s ever worked just eight to five). 

 

This means that every day, we have to discuss who’s picking up who when.  It can be a little nuts!  My husband has been a bit overwhelmed with work lately and I was glad I could make his life just a little bit easier.

 

I hopped in my car and headed down the road.  It was just a regular old day. 

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While driving, I noticed a bug crawling on my side of the window.  At first, I wasn’t concerned but then I began to think, “What if it starts flying around in the car or maybe even crawls on me!  Yikes.  I have to get it out of my car NOW!”  So I tried to roll down my window to flick it out but it was raining and I didn’t want to get wet.  I was so focused on trying to get the bug out of my car that I forgot about everything else, including the fact that I was driving a car. (Never a good thing - I’m sure you can see where this is going) 

 

The jolt, as my car hit the curb, brought me back to reality!  Oh no!  How could I have been so stupid?! 

 

There was a very discernible listing to my right side and I could feel the kerthump, kerthump of my tire as it hobbled down the street.  I pulled off to the side of the road, put my head on the steering wheel and gave myself a verbal lashing.  “Really, Kristi, a bug!  You just HAD to get a tiny little bug out of your car!!!”

 

Then I realized I had to call my husband. . .  Can I just say, “UGH!” 

 

Do I really have to tell him what I did, I wondered.  I picked up my phone, tried to act nonchalant and said as calmly as if I was calling to tell him I would pick up his dry cleaning, “Honey, I’ve got a flat tire.”  (Hoping he wouldn’t ask any further questions.) 

 

 “What!  How did you get a flat tire???”  (Okay, that wasn’t going to work, I guess I’ll just have to come clean. Oh, brother!)

 

“Well, you see there was this BUG . . .“ 

 

Why do I do stupid things like that?  Why do I allow a little thing like a bug to distract me?  Even though it started out as a small little distraction, the repercussions of my inattentiveness were not simple by any shape of the imagination (or cheap I might add). 

 

I’ve noticed that it doesn’t take much in my spiritual life, either to get me distracted with the temporary instead of the eternal.  Doubt. . .  Busyness . . . Discouragement. . .  Worry. . . Control. . . Self-preservation.  Even good things like . . . Family. . .   Ministry. . . Friendships . . .  

 

And I hear my Heavenly Father gently saying to me, “Why do you allow such a small insignificant thing like busyness to distract you from Me?”

 

The repercussions of my lack of spiritual focus can be monumental as well!  My choices can cause a fellow believer to become disillusioned in their faith and walk away.  They can cause my heart to turn away from God.  They can be very costly choices that I so quickly make without thinking of who will be hurt or how they will affect me and the ones I love.

 

But I’m encouraged by the words of Paul in Philippians, Yet, my brothers, I do not consider myself to have “arrived”, spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect.  But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now.  But I do concentrate on this; I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal – my reward the honor of being called by God in Christ.       Philippians 3:12-14 (Phillips)

 

It’s never too late for me to throw off past mistakes and “keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me.”  And it isn’t for you either.

 

These verses give me hope that through His strength I can put that “bug” behind me, realign my focus and be even that more on guard for those things that tempt me to shift me eyes from my true journey.

 

What about you, my friend, do you have a “bug” in your life that has derailed you and caused you to lose your focus?  Remember, it’s never too late to turn back to your forgiving Savior and “grasp the purpose for which Christ has grasped you!”

 

Homesick

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We’d planned this day weeks ago - a trip to the city of our state capital to watch the Michigan State Spartans take on the Iowa Hawkeyes. 


We are fortunate to have friends who have season tickets and we usually go at least once during the football season.  The usual plan is to tailgate before the game and then head into the stadium to watch our Spartans win! (At least we hope that will be the case.)

 

But this day was like none other we’d ever experienced at the Spartan Stadium.  The skies were a dull gray, it was raining buckets and the temperature was knocking on the door of forty degrees!  We had foregone the idea of tailgating (which made me extremely happy) and opted for a warm dry restaurant to eat breakfast and leisurely discuss the upcoming game.

 

Much to my heart’s delight, it decided to quit raining about half way through the first quarter of the game but the bitter cold did not diminish in the least.  As the game wound on it seemed to get colder by the second and by the last quarter of the game it began to pour. 

 

(I have a question.  Why do we put ourselves through such misery just to watch a bunch of guys run around on a field and chase a ball?  It’s nuts?!)

 



I had a poncho on but it began to rain so hard that it was soon soaked and the water began to seep into my clothing.   Before long my jeans were so wet that I felt like I could wring them out.  I couldn’t feel my feet any longer and I began to long for home, like I’ve never longed for it before.  I wanted a hot shower and dry clothes, like a starving dog wants a bone.  It seemed like ages since I’d left that warm beautiful dry place called home. 

 

 

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I began to fantasize about what it would be like to get out of my wet clothes and into a hot shower.  I imagined putting on my nice dry sweat pants and comfy sweatshirt and curling up with a blanket on the couch with a steaming cup of my favorite tea.  Oh, how I longed for home but it was many hours before I actually got there.

 

I often find myself longing for my heavenly home, like I longed for my physical home.  Do you? 

 

I long for my true home . . .

 

   . . . when I struggle in my relationship with God.

 

               . . . when fear has its powerful hold on my life and won’t seem to let go.

 

               . . . when I see evil people prospering and godly people struggling.

 

               . . . when a friend betrays me.

 

               . . . when the pain is too difficult to bear.

 

               . . . when I see a vibrant young father, struck down with cancer.

 

And I imagine what it will be like to no longer struggle with sin and self-centeredness.  I wonder what it will be like to see my Savior face to face, to touch his nail-scarred hands, to feel His arms of protection around me.  I fantasize about seeing loved ones who have gone before me and I anxiously await the day when there will be no more sorrow and no more tears.  I long to go home. . .

 

I’m not the only one who is longing for home.

 

Paul speaks of this longing in Romans 8:20-23 (NLT)  But with eager hope, creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.  For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.  We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

 

One day, heaven will be our reality.  One day, we will step into the arms of Jesus.  One day, all the things we have been longing for will come true and so much more.  I can’t wait, can you?

 

Bittersweet

Having lived in California for a good part of my life, I’d never experienced a true autumn season.  So my first year in Michigan, I was enraptured by the stunning color of the fall trees.  I collected leaves, like I collected rocks as a child.   My dorm room was full of them!  They were all so uniquely different that I just couldn’t help myself.  I decided that fall was my absolute favorite season of all.  But once I experienced a Michigan winter I realized that the glory of the fall was just a precursor to months and months of barrenness. 
 

 It was and is so bittersweet. . . 

So breathtakingly beautiful and so pitifully sad!   Brilliant, vibrant leaves cascading slowly to the ground, leaving only barren trees in their wake.  

I’ve noticed that not just fall is bittersweet but much of life as well . . .  

The first steps of a toddler.  Knowing it’s the beginning of the end. 

Departing an old well-loved home and setting up a new one. 

The joy of adoptive parents in what they have been given and profound sorrow for the one who gave it. 

Tearful goodbyes of old friends and great joy in discovering new ones. 

The heart swell of pride as a child goes off to college “all grown up” and the vast emptiness they leave behind. 

Such a jumble of emotions.  Bittersweet. 

I can’t help but wonder if Jesus experienced this same "bittersweetness" as he prepared to leave this world and go to His Father.  Did he have that same mix of emotions as he looked at his disciples “all grown up” and ready to face the world?  Did he ache for them, knowing the suffering they were to experience? Did He wish it away but at the same time knew it had to be?  Was he excited that they were soon to receive the Holy Spirit that would empower them to do great things for the kingdom? 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.  And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.  Acts 1:8-9 

Life is bittersweet there’s no getting around it  . . .  

The question is, what will we do with it?  Will we squander it away mourning over what we don’t have?  Will we allow the hurt caused by someone we love to keep us from the purpose God has called us to?  Will we sit around waiting until life is only sweet and not bitter before we start living?   

Or will we embrace the bitter and the sweet of life and live it to the fullest?