I was driving home this afternoon from the grocery store when it finally sunk in what God has been trying to teach me lately: God wants me to obey Him completely.
No matter what it looks like to me, just obey. No questions asked.
Trust me, He says. (It sounds so simple.)
Let me back up a little bit to give you some context. The past few weeks have been a blur of questions, decisions, and plans–most accompanied by a nagging, pestering feeling of presumed urgency. I know, people live with this kind of thing every day. But lately, these daily, random choices–whether in my business, at home, or with parenting–are things that have begun to weigh me down. Some days I feel quite nearly frozen with fear as to whether I am making the right decision.
Is it what God wants for me?
Am I really hearing what He is telling me?
You know all those questions that go through your mind when you are in doubt? When you are looking for an answer, but God doesn’t seem to be giving you one? We all go through this kind of thing once in a while.
One of last week’s eBook Freebies was the first book in the Chronicles of the Kings series, Gods and Kings (sorry–no longer free!). I read it in two days and have already made it to the third book. God has a serious message for me in this series about the reign of King Hezekiah.
You see, King Hezekiah reigned after kings like his father, King Ahaz, who didn’t follow God’s laws. King Ahaz was a terrible, cruel, and ungodly king. He went so far as to sacrifice his own children (actually two of them) in order to appease false gods so he would not have his nation overthrown. He sacrificed his children for the protection of his nation.
So when King Hezekiah came into power, he had to make a decision. Was he going to follow God’s law, or continue to rule like his father did, ignoring all the laws of God, in every form, which was also how the people of Jerusalem were used to living.
Today I was thinking about the decision that King Hezekiah had to make for his nation. He was in a place where they had been under Assyrian rule from a treaty King Ahaz had made. Just so you know, being under Assyrian rule meant that had to pay tribute (lots of money) to Assyria in order to stay alive and not be plundered. Assyria had never lost a battle up to this point, and they were cruel, heartless soldiers. To ignore paying tribute as a nation meant certain death.
However, according to the laws of the Torah, God’s people were not to pay tribute to any nation. So Hezekiah decided to honor God’s law and not pay Assyria. He then had to make another choice about building up his defenses to prepare his nation for an attack once the Assyrians came for their share. Since this was during the time of the prophet Isaiah, Hezekiah asked him what God wanted him to do. Isaiah told Hezekiah that God said He wanted him to do nothing. Nothing–not defend themselves and not pay tribute to Assyria.
What? Seriously?
Hezekiah was torn as to what to do. Here he was, a very powerful and Godly man, responsible for the future of an entire nation. His decision would not just affect him. But Hezekiah chose to trust God and obey Him. And guess what?
The Assyrian soldiers turned north and left Jerusalem completely untouched! God kept His promise. He told Hezekiah to trust in Him, that He would be his protection. He told him to do absolutely nothing, and when Hezekiah obeyed Him, he saw God be faithful.
What is the point of all this? Here it is…
If a king like Hezekiah, who has so much at stake–even the future of an entire nation–can completely put his trust in the Lord and obey His commands, why can’t I?
Why do I choose to not obey when He calls? Trust. It all comes down to how much I trust God, and if I believe He will do what He says He will do.
You know the amazing thing? I have God’s Word. I have every story of redemption, protection, promises kept, and more. I have proof that God did what He promised to do, and I still have trouble being faithful. Can you imagine how scary it must have been for a king like Hezekiah?
You can read more about King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 17-18 and 2 Chronicles 29-33.
How about you? Are you fully trusting God at His Word? Do you believe He is who He says he is? What keeps you from completely trusting Him, especially with the little things?
You have written so beautifully what is often so hard for me, as well. I am quick to say how excited I am to fully trust my salvation and therefore, my life after my death, with God. However, I constantly ignore His plan for my NOW. Like King Hez, I have had to do a LOT of nothing lately, having had 5 surgeries this year. My detailed plan of how my house should run has been completely blown away. My thoughts of what is right for my children, again, blown away. It is my failure to see this as God’s plan for my life FOR HIM that makes it hard for me. It is the doing nothing, the trusting, that gets me. I try to think of Abraham’s faith when he took his longed -for-son, Isaac, up on the mount to be sacrificed. He trusted God. Thank you for the reminder.
Good job Kelly. God’s word is exactly where we need to go when deciding, “What to do” We show our love to God when we obey Him. So simple, sometimes so hard, but always so right.
Thanks for the encouragement today to trust in our Almighty, All-Knowing, Sovereign King of a Kingdom where none of our earthly logic measures up or even make sense. He’s faithful and abound in grace and love… Have you told Him that you love Him today? I had to ask Him to teach me to love Him more each day, because He deserves so much more.
Wow, thanks for this timley post, I’ve been feeling that like too, just trusting Him completly, it almost seems like trusting Him for salvation is so much easier than trusting for everything else. and in everything else. Thanks for the reminder! :0)
This is such a great article! Well written, too! I am facing a season of “unanswered” questions~ although I suspect that if I just slowed down and shut up I would hear my answer. Like you, I am constantly paralyzed by fear of making the wrong decision. It’s not always easy.
I find that my doubt does not lie in God’s ability {I don’t doubt his ABILITY to do anything} but in my worthiness of His grace. Not that He can’t move mountains for me but that He won’t~ because it’s me.
Thanks for such a great article! It was a blessing to read it.
This is something God is dealing with me on as well. I have a current situation that God has given me a specific word of promise for yet I find my self worrying and fretting over it on occasion. I think what makes it hard as an adult to trust and obey is the transition we have to make from being a responsible grown adult who is counted on to “fix” the problems in the physical realm as in boo-boos, supper, school lunch, etc. to the unseen deeper spiritual problems. God is controlling as much as we allow Him too. God didn’t design our bodies for worry. When we are trusting Him the sweetness of it shows we are made to trust and working in harmony with Him can bring to places we never could have on our own strength. The best place to be is in His perfect will!
Very thoughtful post. So much easier to say than to put into action. Thanks for the reminder that the thing God wants is our obedience.
I wanted to let you know that the God’s and Kings ebook is free at BN.com (current as of today 10/20/11) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/gods-and-kings
Thank you for your encouraging words. Thanks also for the heads-up on the Freebie!
right on time article for some one (me0 who is struggling so hard. i know god can do anything, but when the pain and anxiety gets to what i consider overwhelming i try to alleviate it myself.i am at a loss. i know Jesus said ” come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest, but when i feel i am getting no rest i take it into my own hands. no details because this is the internet,but everything in my life is going and will soon be homeless. feel like at56 years old i can,t deal with that. thanks for your sharing.