Rodney’s message on Sunday reminded me of a common dilemma I face with trying to be obedient to God. It is when God asks us to do something, but our experience tells us that it is not a good idea or perhaps that we may have heard wrong.
Fundamentally, I believe you weren’t designed to live by experience alone, but by every word that comes from God.
When it comes to what God is asking you to do, I don’t believe that your experience, whether good or bad, should have more weight than what God has said in your decision to obey.
Your experiences are not meant to go against God’s word. Rather, they are meant to help you execute it. For example, “Give to the poor.” Perhaps your experiences can help you navigate the best ways to do so.
Now, I’m not saying to throw the baby with the bathwater (I’m a father now, I should stop using this saying). Don’t dismiss your experiences, good and bad. They are valuable and help us navigate the world around us. However, don’t put them above what God says or what God is asking you to do. When you do that, what you are saying is that you know better than God or you know more than God. Essentially, what you are saying is that you are God.
The key here is of course to discern. If God is asking you to touch a hot stove, then perhaps you should seek wise counsel and find out if this aligns with scripture and God’s character.
Now of course most of us don’t need help discerning things that are common knowledge but rather, what may appear to be a counterintuitive decision. Sometimes it might be obvious for others but not yourself. Sometimes it’s the opposite. I’m reminded of one of our Church memory verses that may help us understand the process:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
– Proverbs 3:5-6
Whenever the Lord has spoken to me and given me an instruction/command to do something that goes against my natural instincts/responses, I found that I needed to learn how to submit what I know, feel, desire and remember to Who God is. Your experiences include your perceptions, bodily awareness, memory, imagination, emotion, desires, actions, and thoughts, which make for a really good case as to why you may have your doubts or hesitate in obedience. But when we know who God is, and most importantly that He loves us, it becomes easier and more natural to obey the Lord. We can see a glimpse of this displayed in close loving relationships.
Ultimately, as Rodney mentioned, it comes down to Humility. I believe the more humble we are, the more likely we are to submit to the Father’s will. When we pray the words “your will be done,” we are already indicating that we are not thinking about ourselves or factoring in what we may know and have experienced, but have a heart that says “if you say it, then so it will be.”
Father, Help us to trust you with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding and experiences but rather show us how to submit to you in all our ways so that you may make our paths straight. Give us a heart of humility and a desire to do your will. Help us to grow in our relationship with you. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!