Obeying Your Father

John 14:23 - Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

What does it mean to obey your Father? By following the path God has laid out for you. And when you don’t know which way to go, simply be still.

The past couple of days, the analysis of Mary and Martha has popped up a few times (Luke 10:38-42). Mary was still, praising God at his feet, while Martha hurried around trying to do so many things at once. Are we being more like Mary? Or more like Martha?

I can tell you for me, I was definitely more of a Martha. I was constantly saying 'yes' to everyone. I was trying to help as many people as I could and never gave myself any time to go to God and rest in His presence. This ended up turning into a great opportunity for the devil to strike me; making me overthink every situation possible; making me get lost in my anxious thoughts. He even made me question what was from God and what was from him. I found myself at a loss. "What do I do now?" I questioned. The funny thing is, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I needed to be still. I needed to obey God.

I’ll give you an example. I had this huge crush on this boy; someone who I loved to hang out with and who cared for me just as much as I cared about him. We were best friends, often hanging out, talking, and even praying for each other. I got so wrapped up in this idea of dating, I lost sight of what God was trying to teach me. I wanted so badly to feel loved, I forgot God is my love. I got so wrapped up in this idea of trying to be everything so the boy would like me, I forgot God already called me enough. The devil hit me hard. "I never cared about a guy like this before, why now?" I asked.

You want to know why… because the devil knew I had never thought about it before, so I would be weak and cave in, overthinking and being more stressed. Weeks went by, and I realized one thing: it was time to get my life back. I started by deleting Snapchat. One problem though, now we never talked. I started second guessing my decision and thought I needed to redownload it just so we could talk. A friend of mine, however, reminded me of one huge rule – the guy should chase after the girl. I knew I needed to take a break from all social media (Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook,etc). It was so hard because I felt like I was letting people down, FOR SPENDING MORE TIME WITH GOD! I let the world fill up so much of my head that I was second guessing spending time with my Father who loves me more than anything. That provided so much healing for me. Why should I listen to the world when I should be listening to my father? He told me to delete social media and yet I found it so hard to listen. I was standing in front of the door, not letting God open it. But God wants to open doors for us. He wants to give us so many opportunities, yet we can be fearful of the future, so we end up not listening to Him.

Maybe you aren’t listening to God with a job, school, or a spouse. But listen to me: you need to be STILL in Christ. When you feel like you are running in multiple directions, stop and open up your Bible. Listen to the TRUTH. The devil has this weird way of mixing up lies and truths, and let me just tell you… God gave us the best resource for when he does this. It’s called the BIBLE! Open up your bible and read God’s truth.

YOU ARE LOVED - Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

YOU ARE CHOSEN - Deuteronomy 14:2 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

YOU HAVE REST - Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

YOU HAVE A FUTURE - Jeremiah 29:11"'For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

As hard as obeying God can be, it will be so worth it. I still get anxious and sad and angry, but what helps is being still in God through reading your bible, praying all the time (just having a conversation with God), and worshipping to your favorite worship songs. The song that has been on my heart this week is “Spirit Lead Me” by Influence Music and Michael Ketterer… It reminds me that when hope is gone, when I am confused or worried, to go to God and let Him decide my future. To trust Him, even when I can’t see what he is doing. To let Him be in control of my life. I will never be able to live up to what He has done for me, but I can live the rest of my life for Him. People will leave, worry will come, hate will show up but God will NEVER leave you nor forsake you. BE STILL AND TRUST HIM.

Prayer: God, You are all that we want. Take the pain away, take the worry away. When we do not understand, give us the strength to continue anyways. Let us trust you and not worry about trying to be everything for everyone. Help us to obey you. Give us opportunities to obey you. We love you God. Take us home, show us grace and please forgive us. You are ALL that we want. We are yours. Let us be more like Mary this week and be still in your love, that you have given us so gracefully. Here is to you, here is us saying… WE'RE ALL IN. Amen