Obedience is better than sacrifice...(1 Sam. 15:22b) Can I just keep it real for a second? :-) Recently I had a situation where someone who was once close, wounded and betrayed me deeply and left me hanging. While we were still at odds, they hit hard times. I did not pray for their demise neither did I gloat. I had and I am determined to leave their retribution or acquittal to The Lord. However, because they had repeatedly showed themselves as untrustworthy, They were no longer under my trusted friends category, but had been moved to my short list of enemies. (Ok, I think its kind of funny that The Lord knew that sooner or later we would have them, do he gave us guidelines on how we should treat them. :-) So when they asked me for something that was of great value to me, to help them out, I was shocked. From what I could see they had not had a change of heart or actions, I was still cleaning up their mess from before, there was no remorse of the damage they had already caused. On top of it, it would cost me greatly if I honored their request. I was in need of what they were asking for. It was a complete insult to injury... Somebody was delusional! And to top it off, they had the nerve to say pray about it. I was not a happy camper. So after calming down, and reminding them of my current situation, I kindly said no. Then The Lord began to speak. First he spoke through a trusted friend who was familiar with the situation. The day before she was adamant that the answer should be No, as well. It was common sense. However, the next day The Lord gave her a scripture which clearly stated the opposite, and He told her to tell me so. She did not want to deliver the message and wrestled with God (respectfully, of course :-) concerning it. She was like Lord, can I do something else? Can you take this cup away? But because she loves Him more than she loves me, she decided to obey; all the while knowing that it was not what she wanted me to do and that I would not want to hear it. And so she came to me humbly, announcing that The Lord had spoken to her concerning the situation. I was like Well Hes going to have to show it to me and confirm it, before I believe that was him Yup! My heels were dug in. She said Oh, I so get it! There is a war in me as well... But He told me to tell you to go read Luke 6. I took a deep breathe, chuckled and responded that I would. And so I did. While I am being candid, I must say that earlier, I heard a still small voice speaking Rom.12: If your enemy is hungry feed him, if he is thirsty give him something to drink... But, in all honesty, I wanted to be exempt from that verse. I was thinking Lord, Dont you remember the pain and heartache this person has caused me? Do you not recall my many afflictions?Can you bless them thru someone else? So I read Luke 6. And it all spoke to me, but vs. 27-36 Spoke to me the loudest. Yeah, it was pretty clear. I couldnt debate it away, reason it away or dismiss my current circumstances from this Now Word-ancient script, the one thats living and sharper than a sword. There was no doubt of what I had to do. I was called to obedience. So again, I surrendered my will to His. Because, in this same book, of Gods Word it tells me that the measure of my love for Christ is linked to my obedience to Him. I love him more than my stuff. I love Him more than I love myself. In this moment I was called upon to take the test. And so I obey, not because I feel like it, or its convenient but because I love The Lord and He is always right. He can be trusted with the outcome. And He helps me love my enemies, even if I dont like them; because love is what you do, not how you feel. Feelings follow obedience, they should never lead. So, once more I am learning that It is far better to obey Him, than to disobey and think we will just make up for it later. Prov.20:3 it says To do what is right and just is more acceptable to The Lord than sacrifice. I pray that we would live a life that is yielded to Him in every way, ever conforming to His will and His Word... Even when its difficult. May we all be found faithful! Grace and peace yall
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 17:57:08 +0000
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