When evil takes up to violence, the good have no choice but to defend themselves.”
–Louis L’Amour (Hanging Woman Creek)
“But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans.”
–Psalm 10:14 (NLT)
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Have you surrendered everything in obedience to the Lord? If He truly is in charge of your life that is not an option, but I will admit that it is not easy. Because of our natural inclination to want to be in charge of our lives, submission to His authority, or any authority becomes a problem. To submit to the Lord is abhorrent to the fallen nature.
There are three facts regarding submission:
1) some will hide behind the mask of submission,
2) some quietly refuse to submit,
3) some refuse the right to choose the authority to whom they will submit, changing authorities when their wishes are challenged.
Perhaps you have wondered why things don’t always go smoothly in your life. It seems as if everything you try blows up in your face. It is as if walking through life is like walking through a minefield. You wonder, where do I step? “Obedience to God gives us a Guide to take us across the mine field. Only the very foolish will refuse to obey the Guide.” (Stephen Brown)
There are several facts about obedience that we must consider. Remember, obedience is being responsible to God. ( “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV)
1) Obedience is not an option.
Christians are not given an option to obey. Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…”. (John 14:21, NKJV) Christians often have their own ideas and plans, despite the fact that the God to whom we owe obedience wants us to go in a different direction. God is not looking for creative people; He is looking for obedient people. “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’” (Jeremiah 7:23, NKJV)
2) In our obedience God gives guidance
God shows us His will. “Concerning the will of God, the first prerequisite of obedience is knowledge, and the first prerequisitie of knowledge is desire.” (Brown) If our heart is not willing to do His will, it is a good bet we will never know what His will is. As we go through life there are some things we should never do, and some things we should always do.
One thing to learn in life is knowing the difference between facts and problems. A problem is something you attempt to correct. A fact is just a fact. You cannot do anything about a fact except control your attitude toward it.
3) Obedience is not to make us miserable.
In fact, it is quite the opposite. When man submits to God “there is a sense of rightness, a sense of rest, a sense of reality that doesn’t come from any other source.” (Brown)
“If you want to be reasonably happy and healthy, then you must do what people have done throughout history: Obey God’s law… To obey God’s law is to live the way we were intended to live in a difficult world…” (Manford George Gutzke)
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Ponder This: California has just banned travelers from California to Oklahoma. Hmmmm, how does that work?