Welcome to the first edition of Sunday Stirrings! (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click here.) I can’t wait to check out everyone’s posts about how God has stirred in their hearts this week! For me, it was all about obedience.
Last Sunday the kids and I were headed to church and listening to a sermon on the radio. It’s not often that I can concentrate on something like that, but we were playing the “quiet game” (the result of their constant bickering everytime we get in the car) and so I heard every word.
The Pastor was talking about the Israelites. When they first left Egypt and the Egyptians were hot on their tail, they got to the Red Sea. God said, “Cross it” and by golly, they did. Forty years later the only thing standing between them and the Promised Land is the Jordan River. God says, “Cross it” and they hesitate.
Why?
The first time, at the Red Sea, they were scared for their lives. It was either cross the water or be killed. Many years later, at the Jordan River, the situation was not so desperate. There were people already living on the other side who wouldn’t be so keen on the Israelites descending on their territory. They would have to fight to claim the land God had promised to them and they weren’t so quick to obey.
I have thought about these two scenarios all week and how they apply to my walk with the Lord. I will admit that in the beginning, I accepted salvation through Jesus Christ out of fear. I’ve heard that called “fire insurance”. (I don’t know why, but that term always makes me laugh.) However, through the years, just like the years the Israelites spent in the desert, God has proven himself faithful time and time again.
I am no longer at the point of obeying Him out of fear, but I’m not so sure I am doing it out of pure love yet either. For me, I am somewhere in between and leaning more toward duty. Or maybe respect. I never thought about this being wrong until I considered my own children. I desire obedience from them as well. But do I want it to come from fear or duty, or out of love? Trusting that I only want what’s best for them?
If I was standing at the Jordan today and God said “Cross it”, I would like to think that I would. But as I reflected on that sermon this week it became apparent that I have rivers of my own which are keeping me from true obedience.
So what about you? Do you obey God out of fear or out of love? Is there a “Jordan River” in your life, keeping you from all the blessings God desires you to have?
5 Comments
I guess I’m backwards. I DON’T obey out of fear. Hmmmmm….
…. To be clear… I don’t cross the river or claim a city because my fear of earthly consequences outweighs my fear of God.
Is that bad?
I just posted my Sunday Stirrings! Is there supposed to be a button to post? When I pull up your page, I just see a blank box at the beginning of your post.
On the question you posted of obedience out of fear or love…I’d have to say I’m probably close to where you are. Although I have a reverence for God, I no longer have a “I’m afraid of what you’ll do to me” kind of fear. My obedience comes far too many times out of duty. But thanks to the grace of God, I am learning to trust and obey because I love Him and desire for His glory to be seen through my life. This has come (and I’m by no means there completely) through some very difficult times of sifting over the past couple of years where the Lord has been teaching me what it means to trust in HIM ALONE!!!!!
Fear or love? I’m probably a pretty good mixture at this point. My love for the Lord is growing so much as I get to know Him better, but given my legalistic past, there is a whole lot of fear to overcome!
This post reminds me of something else I’ve noticed I struggle with and that is praying God’s will be done. I remember when Chanch and I had serious marital problems early in our marriage. I prayed like crazy that God’s will would be done – because I KNEW it was His will for us to work things out and stay married. But years later when we had trouble conceiving, I had a very difficult time praying for His will to be done because I didn’t know what His will was. What if He didn’t want us to have a baby. I wanted MY will!
Anyway, guess it is the same with obedience – sometimes it is easier than other times!
I think that’s been my hang-up, Amy. The trusting His will part. Actually, I KNOW that’s been my hang-up. I know His ways are higher and better, but not always easier or what we’d choose.