Obedience to God
As Christians, being obedient to God can be tough. But, we can be assured that whatever God is asking of us is for the best - even if we can't see it yet. Our gracious Father never gives us a challenge we can’t handle. What is God asking you to do? Will you do it? Will you be obedient to Him?
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Living in Obedience
‘“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.’” ~ Luke 1:38
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Now why ever did he do that? Wouldn’t you have thought the angel would have stayed? After telling her what was going to happen to her, the very least he could have done was to stick around and see her through.
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Mary must have wondered how she was ever going to manage without him. But the fact of the matter was that the angel departed and left her to face the grave consequences of her submission. Where was the angel when she had to try to explain the situation to Joseph? If only he had appeared by her side as she struggled to relate her incredible experience, he might have believed her! She had to explain herself to her parents – and to the strict rulers of the synagogue. Where was the angel then?
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Mary discovered that obedience is a lonely place. To say yes to God when an angel is talking to you is one thing, but to go on saying yes when the angel has left is another thing altogether! But God wants to see if we will walk on in the dark. Obedience says, “I’ll do it without a flashlight. I’ll even do it without an angel. I’ll do it for no other reason than He asked me to do it and I promised I would!”
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If we can come to that point, we may have the privilege of having the angel slip back and whisper in our ear, “You have found favor with God” (v. 30) and that should be enough!
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Lord, it's tough to be obedient. But I know that whatever You are asking me to do is for the best – even if I can’t see that right now. Help me to hear what you are asking me to do, because I am anxious to be in Your will. I can think of nothing that could bring more joy than to find Your favor. Amen.