Obedience Part 5

Continued from Part 4

In fact I desire that. I want my influence and understanding and place in the minds of others to be less and His to be greater. I want my life to facilitate that. Right now it appears to me that He is restoring all He has withheld. I do not know how He will be glorified in all that has transpired or that which is coming but I am confident that He will be.

Someone has said in warning about the harshness of following a life of sin filled pleasure that “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you are willing to pay”. There is indeed a lot of wisdom in those words. There is, as often is true, a counter thought to that premise. I believe that the Love of God will cleanse you purer than you can hope, keep you safer than words will allow you to say and cost Him everything He could pay. I know this is what the Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, has done for me.

It is an awesome thing to be found in the hands of an Almighty, all powerful, all knowing God. When you are your own god you tend to make your own rules within the confines of your circumstances and attempt to force everyone else to be under your control and authority. Unfortunately they are also doing the same thing. Each one is attempting to be their own all sufficient god. It is not unlike being on a roller coaster ride and refusing to throw your hands up in the air and scream. You think you are controlling yourself and the effect of the roller coaster but you are only kidding yourself. The result is chaos and fear.

Being in God’s hands is more like simply throwing your hands up in the air, screaming for joy at the top of your lungs and enjoying the ride. He is so loving and awesome and beyond description good. The ride will be exciting and challenging and exhilarating and will come to a certain conclusion. That will be when you will step away from the car of life onto the platform of heaven and exclaim “Wow! Can it get any better than this?” It already is.

What happens to those who will not choose to get onboard the obedience ride? Well, if you fail at any test, God is usually gracious and allows a retake. You may have to go through the same pain and agony and turmoil again, but that is just His grace. So have I conquered this obedience thing? No, I just happened by His providence to listen this time. Hopefully it will make me a better listener and a better advisor in the future. Perhaps this will allow me to be more obedient in the future.