Joy in Obedience

I was having quiet time with Jesus about a year ago when I had the words “God doesn’t call you to be comfortable, but He promises to be our Comforter” come powerfully into my mind. We all want to be comfortable. Life is easier that way. Synonyms for comfortable are: cozy, snug, warm, pleasant, agreeable, relaxed, secure, content, happy. All those words make you feel warm and safe inside. Our hearts long to be in a happy, easy place. When I accepted Jesus to be my Savior, I thought it meant that my life would go into a “safe place”, a “happy place” and that my life would be “easy” because I had Jesus in my heart!

Do you know what God desires of us? He wants our OBEDIENCE. He asks us to obey him. He asks us to TRUST him. I remember sitting in church next to my grandpa and he would belt out the song “Trust and Obey for there is no other way. . .” So simple and yet the most complex statement ever!

It’s all about God’s calling on our lives and how we choose to respond. He’s given us a choice. We can choose to trust Him. We can choose to obey Him. OR we can stay in a safe place where we are comfortable. That would be easiest. But it would also be disobedience to the One who created you. Take a minute and read Psalm 139 if you need a reminder that the Creator of the entire universe created YOU!

If you are sitting here reading this and know that He has asked to you to something, you need to be obedient. It could be terrifying. It could be keeping you awake at night wondering about the “what-ifs”. We want a guarantee or a security blanket because that would just make it easier, wouldn’t it? Then where does FAITH come into play?

There are two elements of faith. . . 1) Faith can be perplexing, unreasonable and scary. 2) Faith requires a blind leap to trust. —Kierkegaard

Faith is oftentimes a jump into the unknown . . . it is a move based on trust and not in a certain future, but in a dependable God. (Wytsma)

God cares about our faithful obedience grounded in faith and hope. When I read that this morning, the song “Where you go, I’ll go” came on spotify.

“Where you go, I’ll go

Where you stay, I’ll stay

When you move, I’ll move

I will follow you”

Are you willing to follow Him? I’m sure you’ve sung along to this song just like I have.

“All your ways are good

All your ways are sure

I will trust in you alone”

Do you really believe that HE IS GOOD? I believe that the greatest tactic satan uses is to make us question the goodness of God.

“Higher than my sight

High above my life

I will trust in you alone.”

Do you TRUST him more than your own life?

I didn’t start out writing this blog post about this. . . it was supposed to be about the Delight House and giving you an update!

The Delight House has been the greatest leap of faith of my entire life. Well, actually Delight in general has been the greatest “jump into the unknown”. Has it been easy? NO. Has it been really hard at times? YES. Have I spent time wrestling with God? YES. If I am to be truthful, it has been the most challenging, most difficult thing I have ever done. But it has also been the biggest faith-builder of my life as well & there is great JOY that comes from obedience.

To me, Delight is all about bringing Hope and Healing to the girls who are involved in Delight. It is about teaching them to trust and obey. . .to wholeheartedly surrender their lives to follow Jesus. To be real, raw and relevant. No sugar-coating and telling them “if you choose to follow Jesus, it will be easy & comfortable.” I grew up feeling that way. I wish someone would have been blunt and bold and said “it’s going to be difficult”, “there will be pain and suffering”. . .but guess what, we have the ultimate COMFORTER who is closer than our breath. He has a beautiful plan for your life. It won’t be easy, but it will be an awesome adventure. Faith is an adventure. Delight is all about Jesus and the creative arts. . . but the most beautiful art is FAITH. Faith is the art of living forward in obedience. Will you choose to live forward in faith? Will you be obedient?

Because God loves us,

Momma Wall