Friday, January 5, 2007

Do what you're told

I'd like to preface this post with my presupposition that "Our fight is not against flesh and blood but against rulers and authorities, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens." Ephesians 6:12 Basic English Bible. We are fighting daily, and daily being fought against.

The latest lesson I've been learning has to do with obedience. I was a good kid, thought I had this one down. I sense God telling me to do something and I admit I thought it was my choice to obey or not, without consequence. But, now, I'm finding that there is consequence, for better or worse. In fact, when I do the smallest thing He tells me, like call someone, say something, don't say something (more often), write this person, etc. I have this overwhelming sense of fulfillment! How wonderful to feel, even if just for a moment that I served God Almighty and served Him well. If someone wants to discuss why I'd want to be subservient to anyone, e-mail me, I'd be glad to share some of the perks of being a bond slave.

I knew this couple, went to school with the lady, who were the craziest Christians I'd ever met. I think crazy in a good way, though. We'd get together with them, and ask if they'd want to sleep over as it was a long drive for them, and they'd whisper between themselves, and finally tell me that they didn't have a word from God about that, so they would be driving home that night. Every little decision they made was like that. It was really amazing.

I just tried for a few days over Christmas to be obedient in the few little jobs I knew I had to do. As I said before I was on a mountain top high those days, but then, I crashed. For no apparent reason I was struggling spiritually with self-pity and selfishness, like in destructive ways that cause arguments. The timing was too obvious, after two and a half days of obedience, someone was not happy about it, and determined to disrupt my efforts.

So, I encourage others, if you sense God telling you to do anything, do it. But, be prayerful about it and ask for His protection. Just as a person who has just received Christ as Savior will be attacked, so are His children who are growing up and learning to be obedient.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm a friend of Chris's (is that pupncutation right?). Anyway, I find your blog very interesting. The thought of obeying the small promptings of God convicting. Being a mom of three kids it is too easy to ingnore the quiet voice of God. However the rewards of such obedience is always worth the extra effort to follow through. Thanks for the encouragement!

I also agree with your desire to keep your language 'normal' or as non-christianese as possible. I, too, think we should live our lives in such a way as to allow the world to see that we are real (and understandable). I haven't thought so much about how I speak but how I make known my struggles so that my life is seen as real and not 'perfect'. I hope I am making sense. :)

So, welcome to the blogging world. I look forward to reading more!!