Humble Servant

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being].

Deuteronomy 6:5 AMP

I am stubborn. I work hard at not being stubborn, but I’m not always successful. So, I try to use my powers of stubbornness for good and not for evil. Stubbornly holding onto what is good and right… stubbornly seeking out the positive, the humble, or the pure… stubbornly believing God’s Word instead of what I see before my eyes.

It’s taken me an inordinate amount of time to get to this place of desiring to do what is right… because I am stubborn.

I shake my head at God sometimes because He knows me through and through, and yet He still chases after me and cherishes me to the core. Why is that, I wonder?

It’s kind of like how I feel about my kids. I love every part of them, warts and all. They might frustrate me from time to time, but it’s nothing I can’t forgive because they’re my babies. I cherish them, and I will never forsake them.

That’s how God is with us. And He desires for us to love and trust Him in return.

Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me. And because they love Me, My Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal Myself to each of them.

John 14:21 NLT

It’s a Trust Issue

Sometimes life makes it difficult to trust God. Our experiences can cause us to see Him through the filter of our trauma. For example, if our father or mother (or main authority figure) was distant, unloving, or abusive, that is how we will see God.

Filters created by pain can color and distort how we see God, ourselves, and others. They can alter our perception of everyday life, and make every one of the enemy’s lies sound true until we are in complete bondage to fear, addiction, depression, and beyond.

So many things can create these filters for us, and they can be very difficult to break. In fact, it often takes a deep spiritual renovation to expose and destroy the filters, repair the cracked foundation of a person’s life, and restore them to health.

That’s why obedience to God and His Word can be so difficult. We want things our way, we feel safer when we are in control, and no one can tell us their way is better because we’ve already been there and done that.

But in living life on our own terms, aren't we still stressed out, depressed, and full of fear?  Aren't we still having emotional outbursts, fits of jealousy, and panic attacks?  This is because our own way leads to death and destruction.  It is only God's way that leads to life and peace.

I have been through a deep spiritual renovation myself, and I can truly say that God’s way is better. If we desire the lasting internal peace and joy He promises, then we need to follow Him. He’s the only One who knows the way.

Jesus said to his disciples: If you love Me, you will do as I command.

John 14:15

If You Love Me, Trust Me

The focus of obedience is not to earn God’s love. We always have God’s love. It’s unconditional. Obedience is not about whether or not God loves us, but if we love Him.

Obedience is an outcome of our love. It happens automatically.  The more we spend time with Him, the more we love Him. And the more we love Him, the more we will desire to obey Him. Obedience is a sign of our trust in the kindness of His character.

It's like having a super wise "ride or die" best friend.  You follow everything they say because they love you, they only want what is best for you, you trust them, and they are always right!  

When we finally begin to believe in the kindness and goodness of God, we will obey Him because we trust Him. We will work diligently to overcome our flesh so we can please Him because of all He has done for us. We will come to know the importance of following Him, and we will begin to take it seriously.

This is what the Father is ultimately looking for in His children: TRUST. This is the essence of spiritual maturity.

• When He taps on something and says, “Let this go. It is not good for you,” we are willing to do the hard work because our loving Father has given us His wisdom and we know He only wants what is best for us. We know we can’t do it on our own, so we fully rely on Him to make it happen in us and through us.
  
  We let down our guard and allow Him to work it out… because we trust Him.

• When He says, “Forgive this person and show them love today,” we are willing to put ourselves aside and do the hard work of forgiveness and reconciliation because our Father knows what’s best on both sides of the fence in that relationship. He’s working it out on BOTH sides.
  
  Whether or not they decide to listen to God is not up to us. We simply focus on what we know is right to do between ourselves and God, and He will do the rest. He can be trusted.

Obedience is Loyalty to a King

The Bible says to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). The Amplified Bible says it this way:

…continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].

Philippians 2:12b AMP

I believe that “working out our salvation” is like working out where our loyalties truly lie. Who do we trust? Who will we follow? Will we follow God, or will we follow ourselves?

It’s like when we would never say or do anything to harm our best friend or our fearless leader. We become “ride or die” friends with God when we put our defensive weapons down and begin to believe, and to humbly follow, the truth of His Word.

It is a lifelong aspiration to become like Christ, especially when this world is all about living by feelings. According to society, if I don’t feel like doing something, or if something doesn’t make me happy, then I don’t have to do it. But that’s not the truth for those who follow the Lord.

Following the Lord is like swearing allegiance to a righteous King. He often directs us to do the most difficult thing. He often asks us to release to Him whatever is most precious to us in this life. We often suffer under His hand as He heals us and prunes us and brings us into growth stages, but it is only for our good, and for the good of those around us.

We won’t be truly free without His work in our lives, so we willingly lay down our lives and receive His discipline. When it ultimately brings us JOY to do so, then we know for sure that Christ is doing a work in us.

We no longer want our own way… the way that leads to spiritual death. We only want His way that leads to life and peace in this world, and in the next.

He created us to do hard things. There is no need to be afraid of obeying our loving King. He can be trusted.