Tag: obedience

No, Daddy: A Lesson in Obedience

Barefoot.  Blithe.  Basking.  Free spirits like mine thrive on beaches.  Sand and shore are God’s invitation to run and play, to wander aimlessly and explore, to drink in the splendor of a sunrise or sunset, peaceful and serene.  Well, almost peaceful.

A little boy appearing 2-3 years old raced up and down the shoreline just out of reach of pounding waves as he loudly snapped, “No, Daddy!”  Every effort of the father to grab his hand was slapped away.  When finally the father did get hold of a hand the child plopped down on his bottom in the sand, refusing to budge.  Another loud, “NO, Daddy!”  The father maintained his grip and pointed down shore.  “This way, son,” he said sternly.  Immediately, the toddler fell flat on his back, screaming, pounding fists and flailing legs, kicking up a cloud of sand.  After a few minutes of mayhem the child lay silent and still, red-faced and spent.  Dad crouched down beside him to talk. 

In a burst of amplified rebellion the boy pounced to his feet and darted straight for the ocean.  The father quickly followed with not even a hint of surprise on his face.  A willfully disobedient child pushing the limits of defiance and danger didn’t catch him off guard.  He’d witnessed this behavior before, probably many times.  Unaware of the danger, the boy catapulted his body into oncoming waves.

The father scooped up his soaked, screaming son out of a torrent of frigid water, hugged the trembling tot tightly to his body, returned him to safety and wrapped him in a beach towel.  As the boy gasped for breath, I heard the father calmly declare, “Enough, son.  I love you but you have to stay close to me and obey me or there will be serious consequences.”

There were people on the beach oblivious to the child’s belligerence and probably others who might have cheered a hard butt-dusting for the toddler.  {I’ll leave it to your imagination which category I fell into.}   I marveled as this little ball of defiance melted into the arms cradling him to keep him warm and safe.  I marveled even more at the father’s great restraint and wisdom.  He knew exactly what the frightened child needed in that moment.  Despite what incredulous onlookers might have applauded, the father offered patience and mercy.

My heart ached as I realized how many times as a grown woman I have acted the part of a defiant toddler.  To be sure, my rebellion is much more sophisticated than that of a tiny tot, but the heart posture is the same.  I may even appear calm on the outside, but inside I can be kicking, whining and demanding.  How many times when God clearly pointed the way, have I responded with, “No, Daddy.”?

Taking the stance, “I want what I want and I want it YESTERDAY!” I’ve chased the wind and wandered dangerously close to treacherous waters.  On at least a couple of occasions I felt my Father’s hand rescue me from raging currents positioned to lap me up and pull me under. 

In the midst of my rebellion my heavenly Daddy exercises patience and demonstrates divine mercy.  He blankets me in his love, gripping me tightly and he will not let me go.   His warning is calm yet clear, if I don’t remain close to him, there could be serious consequences.

 Today my Abba/Daddy reminds me that it is not enough to appreciate his long-suffering, not even sufficient to love him for his protection and be grateful for his mercy.  The Father expects his children to obey.  He knows what is best for us.  He points the way and holds our hand but He will not drag us against our will kicking and screaming.  It is our free will to behave like toddlers and refuse his divine direction.  But oh, how much we will miss in doing so.

The prophet Nehemiah proclaimed:

“Oh Lord, God of heaven, you are a great and mighty God who faithfully keeps covenant with those who LOVE thee and OBEY thy commandments…” Nehemiah 1:5

Three principles jump out at me in this Scripture: 

~Love and obedience go hand in hand. 

~God is great and mighty.  By His sheer might He could coerce his children to obey but He doesn’t. Instead he offers us free will.

~God’s favor rests on those who choose to love & obey.  He is faithful to keep covenant with those who engage in loving obedience.

Our heavenly Daddy is not intent on crushing the free spirit in us.  On the contrary, He delights in bare feet and a blithe disposition.  Yet He loves us enough not to allow us to run amuck in the face of spiritual peril.   What’s more, He longs to bestow blessings and favor upon us when we heed his voice and obey his commands.  Wow.  Now there’s something we can bask in.

Old What’s Her Name

Have you ever felt stuck? 

You have a sense that God is calling you to move forward…physically, vocationally, emotionally, relationally, spiritually…yet something is holding you back.  You know there is a life ahead of you requiring you to embrace change…do something different, go somewhere new…but you are reluctant.  Maybe you’re more than reluctant; maybe you’re flat out defiant.  Your life as it exists now is less than ideal but at least it’s predictable.  There’s something comfortable in predictability.  To have to give up something, maybe everything that is familiar makes you uneasy.

Do you have faith to trust God for change?  Or do you drag your feet?  Maybe it’s fear that’s holding you back, or perhaps a lack of clarity about where you are headed.  You tell yourself there’s no harm in waiting a little longer…when God makes it obvious to me WHY He wants me to move or WHERE He’s taking me, then I’ll go.

But what if tarrying comes with a price tag?  What if it disobedience to God’s call to move forward…even to a place unknown…costs you everything?

Do you remember Lot’s wife’s name?  NO?  Neither does anybody else. She was so insignificant that the Bible writer doesn’t bother to call her by name.  In Genesis 19:16 & 26 she is referred to simply as “Lot’s wife”. I’ve dubbed her “Old what’s-her-name”.  Not only do we not know her name, we don’t know much about her at all. She was a wife, a mother.  And when God asked something difficult of her, when she faced His call to move on with her life, her longing for the security of sameness destroyed her.

God said, It’s time to move. Your family depends on it. Your life depends on it. DO NOT LOOK BACK. Just MOVE!   Old-what’s-her-name was not a woman given to immediate obedience.  Can you imagine the fit she threw before she finally got on the road with her family… WHY ME?  WHY NOW?   I don’t want to move.  Where are you taking me?  What if I don’t like it there? Why is this happening to me?  Can’t this WAIT? I’m not ready to let go!!  By the time she set out, begrudgingly following her husband I would imagine that she had worked herself into quite a tizzy.

Picture it: they’re finally fleeing Sodom as God had commanded. With no time to pack, Old-what’s-her-name has left everything behind.  We know how women are. Our home is our sanctuary. Our stuff defines us. Our friends affirm our value.  We yearn for that house and neighborhood where we hang our hearts. We desire our old friends.  We crave our creature comforts. We languish for the security of familiarity.  “Old what’s-her-name” was no different. She longed for her home, the things she was leaving behind. She hated the thought of starting over!!  Having previously been an Army wife through multiple moves, I can certainly relate.

But in her pain &/or rebellion, Old-what’s-her-name made two major blunders: first, she tarried behind her husband.  She refused to walk beside him on the journey.  She hung back, probably whining, dragging her feet, and slowing down everyone else in the family as they were sent racing out of Sodom. Second, she turned around. I read a Biblical scholar who described her turning not as a glance over her shoulder but as a physical stop and turn around. She not only stopped moving forward, she turned to go back the other direction!  The result was that she was left standing there dead in her tracks-literally! 

It’s no secret God created women with a high need for security and sameness.  But men can be equally guilty when it comes to a reluctance to relinquish the things of the past and move forward.  Our Creator understands our longings and desires–He’s the one who gave them to us in the first place! He knows YOUR longings just as He knew Old-what’s-her-name’s.  Still, He gave her a journey and her journey had a purpose {to save her life}. Likewise, He has given you a journey and your journey also serves a purpose. Though it may remain unclear to you exactly what that purpose is you can be sure that God has only your GOOD in mind. God doesn’t want you to be destroyed in this process of change & uncertainty. He wants to stretch you, to grow you and ultimately to bless you & bless others through you.  In order for that to be accomplished, you cannot make the mistakes of Old-what’s-her-name.  You must not tarry and you must not look back.

In Luke 17: 32 Jesus warned about such self absorption when He said, “Remember Lot’s wife.”  {Gees, even Jesus didn’t give us her name!} I believe He wants us to remember Old-what’s-her-name not because she was anything special but because she is a classic example of how devastating it can be to live life with one foot in the future and one foot in the past.  We must trust the Lord’s plan & purpose for the future rather than trying to hold on the things of our past, including our very life as we have come to know it. Jesus was clear… “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.”  {Luke 17:33}

Contrast Old-what’s-her-name with Abraham in Genesis 12:1.  God told Abraham “Leave your country, your kinsmen, and your father’s house, and go to a country that I will show you.”  Did you get that?  Abraham had no idea where God was taking Him!  Yet in Genesis 12:4 we read,  “And so Abraham set out as the Lord had bid him…”  With no clue where he was going Abraham put one foot in front of the other and moved in faith. Only through obedience to what God had already instructed Abraham to do was he able to learn where God was taking him.

The choice is ours…either move in faith as Abraham did or tarry like Old-what’s-her-name. It’s the choice between experiencing freedom or being rendered permanently stuck.  We needn’t worry that we don’t have all the answers…God is not going to reveal more of His will until there is obedience to what He has already commanded.  But every child of His can be assured He will give just enough light for the step you are on and He will be the Wind that propels you forward when you are feeling stuck.