Walking in Obedience

 Dan and I have been in full-time ministry for the past 30 years and during that time we've had all sorts of experiences. One thing we've learned is that when we are obedient to the call that God has placed on our life, we see Him at work. Now that does not mean that things always go well or that life is all rainbows and roses. But we've seen His hand on our ministry and our lives along the way.

But so often, when God moves a person to a particular ministry they can come up with a variety of reasons of why they shouldn't do that thing. The reasons can be, "I don't have the ability." "I will meet resistance." "I'm not ready." "I have too many other obligations." And like God did with Moses, He may say, "Fine." "I'll send someone else to do it." and you will miss out on the blessing of God using you.

There are also times when God is calling you to step down from a ministry and even in that there may be a number of reasons we choose not to obey. "It's mine, Lord!" "I don't want to give it up." "No one else is going to do it the way I do it." "It will change." And in those excuses and the inability to let go, we allow others to miss out on the blessing that God has for them.

We have learned to listen to what God is asking from us and then to step out and follow. We don't always know what's ahead. Some days it may seem as if perhaps we heard wrong. Other days the path is just hard and rocky and not enjoyable. Following God sometimes means we are down in the hard valleys.

However, we have found that if we keep moving forward in obedience, we always come to a place that's a sweet spot to sit and enjoy the view.