The first piece of “walking in obedience” is following God’s commands that are clearly laid out in scripture: The 10 commandments, the greatest commandment to love our neighbor, etc. But sometimes, we feel, sense, or hear God telling us to do something. And our response can be something like, “Wow! That’s so cool God, Let’s do it!” Or, if you’re anything like me, it’s more like , “Uh, you sure God?” or, “Okay, but that’s pretty scary.”
Luke 11:28 tells us that those who “hear the word of God and keep it” will be blessed!
Walking in Obedience means doing or saying what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do or say. It means taking a step of faith. This can be scary when He wants us to do something that we’ve never done before, or that we don’t know much about. We fear messing up, looking like a failure, not being secure in our abilities, you name it. But here’s the question that changed everything for me:
Would I rather obey God and trust that what He has for me is good, or sit around in fear and never experience those good things?
The biggest example of this in my life has been starting and co-leading a small group. As a freshman in high school, I felt the Lord put something on my heart about starting a group. I didn’t know if it needed to be through church, or at school, but I knew I needed to bring people together. I came up with excuse after excuse, and never did anything.
Sophomore year rolled around, and I kept it in the back of my mind, but still never acted. And remember- faith without works is dead. I had all this faith in God and felt my relationship with Him growing, but never ACTED. I also feared seeming “too Christian”, but that’s a topic for another time ;) Finally, my junior year, my sweet friend Moriah and I started a small group together. I was done waiting around and knew that if I continued to sit in fear, I wouldn’t see God’s goodness in my life and the lives of those around me. Again, a topic for another day, but there is power in walking in obedience with believers beside you! I would not have been able to start the small group without Moriah, my parents, and my pastors, who provided a space for us to meet and materials to use for our Bible study.
Y’all. This small group has been going on for 5 months now and it has blessed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined. It’s a beautiful community of believers who meet and talk about the bible, our lives, and how to bring God into all areas of our lives. I would’ve never thought that by simply saying “Yes Lord”, my life would look so beautiful. And that’s just one example.
So what if you feel like God is telling you to do something but don’t know if it’s really God?
Ask yourself:
Does it align with the Bible?
Does it align with the character of God?
Seek wise counsel.
Tell your parents about what you heard! Tell your pastor(s) and ask them to pray with you and stand in agreement with you about what the spirit is leading you to do.
Walking in obedience is a beautiful thing that the Lord used to bless His children, but it’s not always easy. When walking in obedience gets hard for you, remember that Psalm 143:10 gives us the comfort of knowing that God’s good spirit will lead us on level ground!
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