“It’s easy to obey God when we agree with him.”

A thought by Larry Osborne (2015-04-01) from his book, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture (Kindle Locations 741-742). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That is so true isn’t it? But that is not the end of the thought. Larry goes on to say, “But that’s not really obedience.” It really isn’t.

He then says, “But let’s be honest. When things go south, our theology often goes out the window. When the path of obedience doesn’t make sense, appears too costly, or doesn’t seem to be working, we’re quick to blaze our own trail.”

We know best. Surely He doesn’t want me to do that? But here’s the key, “We haven’t learned obedience until we do what he says despite our doubts, confusion, or concern that his way won’t work out… A lot of the things God wants us to do don’t make sense in a spiritually hostile environment. They seem counterproductive. Consider some of his most basic and well-known commands: love your enemies, submit to authority, and forgive as we’ve been forgiven. All of these things are easy to pontificate about when our Christian values dominate the culture. But they aren’t so easy to defend when our enemies are powerful, those in authority oppose us, and the culture at large mocks the very things we hold most dear. But we must. These are the things he commands. It’s what learning to obey is all about.”

His way is best. Go read in the Old Testament the story of Joseph and then in the New Testament read about the Apostle Paul’s life. Or how Jesus handled his last hours before his death. Really, did it make sense that Jesus should die? But he was obedient. He said, “Father forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing.” He forgave them because God told him to. Kind of like those people in South Carolina who saw their Pastor and other’s killed before their eyes but they reached out in forgiveness to the one who hated them and did it.

Oh we are obedient to the things that we agree with but what about those things that don’t make sense?

How obedient are we then?

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