Incovenient Obedience ...

Dear friends, We have all been both obedient and disobedient to God at times, haven’t we? Think about it, it’s always so easy to be obedient to God when He tells us to do something that conveniently fits into our schedule and routines, or when it’s something we feel like doing anyways.

But when it comes to INCONVENIENCE, It’s not so easy to obey God is it? In fact, it’s in these moments that we find ourselves leaning more towards disobedience.

I don’t know if you realize this pattern by now or not, but God’s call for obedience in our lives is almost Never at convenient times. There are a lot of times when God tells us to do something and we know it’s Him cause it’s always something that stretches us or makes us uncomfortable… The problem is that we always have a tendency to make it about us. We say things like- “I got my own problems to worry about, I don’t feel like it, I’m too nervous, I don’t know enough, I’m tired, I’m not dressed right, I don’t even know anyone there, I’m embarrassed, I’m scared.” And the list goes on and on. Do you hear that? “ I I I ” What’s important to remember is that our act of INCONVENIENT obedience is not all about us, but there is a blessing in it for us. Many times that God calls us to do something, it almost always involves other people. Through the act of obedience, yes God is doing something in us , He’s building our Faith and trust in Him. But in an act of obedience to God there is always more than one thing that He’s doing. And one of those things is that He is working in other people’s lives fulfilling His will.

Not only is obedience hardly ever easy Or convenient, But sometimes it even seems illogical. In other words, It just doesn’t make sense. And one certain story that I think about in the Bible is the story of the widow that feeds Elijah. In this story, Elijah was told to go ask for food from a widow who was suffering famine and who barely had enough for her and her child to survive.

(1 Kings 17:8-16) Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “ Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”12 So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a [a]jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

In this story it seemed unfair and didn’t make any sense as far as logic goes, But the widow still obeyed. What did she do? She shared her portion of food with Elijah, Or her own son was it need. I wonder what was going on in her own mind while she baked the cake. What will the neighbors think, Feeding this man when there’s barely enough for my own child? Instead, Her bold act of Faith defies logic, And because of her inconvenient obedience, She experienced the Lord’s blessing of never-ending Provision throughout the rest of the famine! Hallelujah!

The Christian life Is a call to daily obedience In and out of season. Many times we will not understand why, and many times it would be inconvenient and unfavorable timing for us, but let us do like the Widow who didn’t follow her own reasoning and understanding but instead answered the call and reaped the Lord’s blessing because of it. Amen With Love, Your brother in Christ, Billy Montes