Last week, Mary Ann Romans left this comment in the trail of one of my blogs on obedience:
What a great post! I’d love to see more on this topic, such as how to overcome the personality traits that might influence a lack of obedience or how to recognize the opportunities to be obedient.
I don’t think she was expecting to become the focus of two whole blogs devoted to answering her question, but I loved having the chance to really think about it and to try to put into words everything that comes to mind when I contemplate this. Thanks for getting my brains humming, Mary Ann, and for letting me pick on you!
I answered her first question to the best of my ability with “Putting Off the Natural Man,” and today I’d like to try to address the second half of her question, how to recognize opportunities to be obedient.
As we go through our day, we find that every second is a second to make a choice. Do we get out of bed, or do we hit the snooze one more time? Do we take a shower, or a bath instead? Which perfume should we choose for that day, do we want a dress or slacks or jeans, all the way through breakfast (bagel or Froot Loops) to transportation (bus, car, or carpool?) Whether we’re at home or at work, male or female, married, single, parents or not, we are bombarded with choice. Most decisions, we make based on how we feel at that moment. We choose the red shirt because we feel outgoing. We choose the gray one because we don’t want to be noticed. And you know, I’m just more in the mood for Froot Loops today.
Most of these decisions simply don’t matter. Does God care what shoes we wear to work? I highly doubt it. But there are other decisions that do impact our lives. Do we tell the clerk he gave us too much change? Do we help the older lady struggling to carry her bags? Do we speak up for a co-worker who is being blamed for a mistake they didn’t make?
One thing to notice here is that the decisions that don’t really matter also don’t take a lot of our time. But it’s going to cost you if you stop to help the elderly woman – you might be late. You could get in trouble for helping your co-worker. If you stop to get correct change, you could miss your train. Important decisions and choices almost always involve self-sacrifice in some way.
As we look for opportunities to be obedient, the first thing to do is to become very familiar with God’s laws so we know them inside and out. God’s way is almost always the inconvenient one. This is because He wants us to learn to be unselfish. He wants us to think of others and to be His hands. Looking for people to serve is always doing God’s will.
Another way to go about it is to listen to your instincts. God speaks to us in a quiet voice, nudging us as we navigate our day. He uses feelings in our hearts most often, and we hear them instinctively. Sometimes it’s hard to block out the sound of the world around us so we can listen to what’s going on inside us, but when we are able to, we’ll find that He’s been speaking to us underneath all the chaos.
A popular saying these days is, “WWJD?” which translated is “What would Jesus do?” While a cute catch phrase that has adorned jewelry and key chains for the last couple of years, it’s also a great rule of thumb. He might not have any preference on breakfast cereal, but He has told us in very clear language how He wants us to behave and interact.
The opportunities are everywhere—we just have to be willing to listen and then to follow through.
Related Blog:
Are You Worried About Others’ Perceptions?