Genesis 3…….Psalms………Proverbs…………….
For some time, God has nudged me, led me to read a certain book, and allowed people to speak into my life, coming in the form of sermons and faith sharing with a dear friend. They have been pieces to this puzzle.
Mind you, it all started a couple months ago really. That’s when God began drawing me closer to the truth of what He wants. And then a couple weeks ago I began thinking over Genesis 3. I’ve read it lots of times. You too? Well – maybe for the first time ever, I think I’ve got it – at least God’s message to me.
Why did everything get so screwed up in the beginning? Adam and Eve didn’t obey God. Why do we get into such messes? We don’t obey God. How in the world do we get to places where life seems impossible to handle? We haven’t obeyed God – or – maybe the issue actually is that we never asked Him what He wants in the first place. And because we ventured off on our own, we find ourselves overscheduled, overwhelmed, restless, stuck or immersed in the meaningless.
This is where I’ve been. I suspect you have too at some point. And while I am certainly not flawless in this, I AM going in the right direction. Bottom line is: 1) I needed to come to the end of myself – and – 2) I needed to focus singularly on God and ask Him what He wanted – what is essential? – what is the core, simple truth that I seem to be missing?
Obedience. Yeah – not a popular word. Neither is it something easy to do. Often we hear His voice and pretend we didn’t. Or we listen to the father of lies like Eve and decide we might have a better plan.
The Path of Discovery………………………
Let me take you down the path of discovery over the last two months as I took in and dug deep to figure this out.
Initially I read the book by Bill Hybels, Simplify. It’s so spot on as far as priorities, getting back to God and what He wants. At the end of Bill’s book he says, “We get one shot at this life. Choose a purposeful, God-first life, and you will reap rewards for today and for eternity.”
About this time I went home to NY. It had been 20 years. The main reason for going home was to speak at the induction ceremony for the Wall of Fame at my former high school. My husband, Tracy, was being inducted. It was an honor to speak on his behalf. But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Let me back up and tell you that as I travel I always ask God to give me opportunities to minister to others. It could be simply a listening ear, word of encouragement or doing something to brighten their day by expressing kindness. This trip was extraordinarily different. It was as if there was a funnel above me where God was pouring everything in. I was the recipient of love, grace, mercy, heart healing and comfort. Though the words may not convey it, the experience was deep – beyond words deep. So add that to the reading of Bill’s book and listening to what the Holy Spirit was telling me. Bill’s book isn’t opinion. It’s solidly supported by many scriptures. And – it caused me to research the scriptures further because I wanted more. I needed more.
Over the next 6 weeks or so I heard sermons that reinforced the word – obedience. And, in sharing our faith walks, my dear friend made me focus once again on obedience – simplifying – getting priorities straight – focusing on God – letting minor things fall away – drawing me closer to God and further away from the calendar, the schedule, the tyranny of the urgent. Yikes. . . the promptings of the Holy Spirit were getting uncomfortable.
I still wanted more – so I looked up scripture about obedience. Turns out God is all about obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice. That theme goes through the whole Bible. I found references to this from I Samuel to Luke. The light bulb came on and I finally got it. Obedience – God wants obedience. Even though I may not get it perfect, my heart needs to bleed obedience.
Like so many things in God’s economy, there’s more to obedience than you might think. First of all, by choosing a “purposeful, God-first life”, it leads to simplifying. I listen to the ONE voice more than the many. Yes, it means I make tough choices, but I’d rather be true to God than the many. I’m not really accountable to all of them and neither are you, by the way.
Secondly, it pushed me to investigate the whole “delight” thing since God delights in our obedience more than sacrifice. This, too, is a big deal to God.
There’s lots on delight in the Psalms. Here are some with the original Hebrew meaning in parentheses. This totally blessed my heart. I hope it does you too.
- Psalm 1:2 ~ delight in the law of the Lord (a valuable thing, desired)
- Psalm 37:4 ~ delight yourself in the Lord (luxurious)
- Psalm 40:8 ~ delight to do Thy will (be well pleased)
- Psalm 119:77 ~ Thy law is my delight (to please)
also Proverbs……………………both are good pleasure
- Proverbs 11: 20 ~ the blameless in their walk are His delight
- Proverbs 15:8 ~ the prayer of the upright is His delight
God delights in me when I obey, when I put HIm first, when I make Him the best and only. In turn, we are to delight in Him – to please, to value, to desire, to luxuriate in Him.
When was the last time you were that into God? It’s a question I think we all need to ask ourselves.
So. . . starting now – I’m choosing to focus on God. I’m making Him the singular voice. Getting this right will make everything and everyone fall into the proper place. This isn’t going to always go as it should, but it is SO worth the effort. I know. Because when I have actually done this consistently, life sure seems more abundant and joy-filled.
I hope you will give this a try. Pray about it. Dig into God’s word yourself.
God wants our obedience – yeah – that’s what God wants.