Called to Obedience

For a couple of days now, I've had this urge to spend time submerged in God's Word. I just want to fill my pages of my prayer notebook with His teachings and my requests. I don't really have a system, I just sit down on the loveseat in my living room with my two devotionals, my Bible, and my notebook. I open one of the devotionals, I go through the message of the day, ponder on it, and try to write down the meaning of it. I also read through the scriptures given for that day and message, and I also write about it. At the end I sometimes write a prayer, and continue with the next devotional, and then I end with where I left off from my Bible.

It's not easy to find the time to spend some quiet time with God, neither it is to MAKE time for it. You have some much more to do at home, but if you all of a sudden have this urge to spend time reading and journaling, do so! That just means that God wants to spend time with you, and He has no other way to get your attention but by giving you the urge to read! And don't even try to push it out of your mind...it will come back twice as strong, full force.

So whatever it is that you have the need to do, it might be the Holy Spirit telling you that you should do it. For example, walking by an elderly person and just smile and say "How are you?", or maybe giving your leftovers to someone you just saw on the streets, begging; or maybe the ever-present need to tell someone about God.

Maybe you feel foolish trying to obey the Holy Spirit within you the first time, but as you keep doing it, the task of obedience will come naturally. First you might dread doing it, and you might want to choose not to do them, but disobeying the task God has for you will bring consequences. First few times it will feel like He is not there, He will be silent (He will be there, but He will be silent). 

As you keep on not obeying, your heart will depart from His presence until the day you completely choose not to obey God. With not obeying God oftentimes comes the feeling that God is not there, or that He never existed in the first place. That is because with your disobedience, He took away your talents and gave it to someone else (Matthew 25:14-30), someone who would be willing to further His kingdom since you chose not to.

On the other hand, when you choose to obey the simplest of tasks, you are rewarded with more and harder tasks. When you choose to obey God in such passion and dedication, you are showing that you are able and willing to step out of your comfort zone for Him, that you love Him and want to please Him. With this, more blessings come, and more tasks come as well.

We, as the chosen of God, are called to obedience, called to further His kingdom. If you feel incapable but willing, He will show you the way, He will give you the right words to say, the right thing to do...if you flat out refuse or don't want to, then He not only will make no way, your talents will be given to someone willing but "incapable," because what we fail to understand sometimes is that God qualifies the called, not the other way around. You don't have to have done many years of ministry or have been a Christian for more than 10 years to start expanding the Kingdom of God through your obedience.

All you have to do is have a love for God, a willingness of heart, and a sense of purpose. Pray that God uses you today in whatever He sees fit, because even if you don't feel like you're making a difference with simple things, just remember this: God is the only one able to see the bigger picture. Trust, and have faith :)

Blessings,
Natalie <3