This post is intended to be used in conjunction with the 12-week Bible Study of Experiencing God by Henry, Richard, and Mike Blackaby and Claude V. King. References to specific quotes and texts are indicated by ‘EG’ and the corresponding page number and come from the 2022 publication.
A few months ago, I ordered an indoor play tent for an activity room we were assembling for the little ones in the nursery here at church. The tent had three parts; the tent, a tunnel, and a ball pit, and all three were connected together.
I dumped all of the pieces out, and I was pleasantly surprised that there weren’t as many pieces as I had assumed there would be. This particular night, I had a second-grade boy who didn’t have anywhere to be, so I had him be “my helper” for the night.
We separated the parts, and it seemed quite obvious where the pieces went and how they all fit together, so I did what a lot of people do: I tossed the instructions off to the side and went to assembling.
The ball pit was a cinch. It was up and ready to be filled with the balls before I knew it. The tunnel was a little trickier, but it seemed okay and I was able to get it attached to the ball pit with my little second grade helper. I was quite proud of our accomplishments as we tackled the tent portion. I could see there were loops inside and so I started feeding the frame through the loops. It made sense to me, but as we went along, the little boy pointed out that it just didn’t look right.
I assured him it was fine; we just needed to get it all framed up and it’d be great and I’d let him be the first one to try it out. The problems started to become obvious when we had more loops than frame pieces. To be fair, I had ordered this from Temu and sometimes, their products are not without flaws. But even with the extra loops and me putting the frame pieces where I thought they should go, I realized that it was just not going to work.
The whole thing was lopsided. We could not get it to stand up straight. Part of the roof portion was caving in. Something was amiss and as long as I stared at it, I couldn’t figure out how to fix it.
Have you ever seen the show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” Well, that night I found myself questioning if I was smarter than a second grader because he asked me, “What did the instructions say?”
Oh…..the instructions.
Sure enough, when I took a look at the instructions, I had messed up royally. I had pieces in the tent that belonged in the tunnel. The tunnel pieces lined up perfectly with the loops in the tent. Once we unassembled it and started over using the instructions, it became clear that the direction I had us going would have never resulted in a safe and sturdy play area for the kids.
When we are obedient to the instructions God gives to us, we’ll find ourselves producing safer and more sturdy results because we are accomplishing His purposes through His plans and His ways.
This week’s focus was “on the last of the seven realities: you come to know God by experience as you obey Him, and He accomplishes His work through you.” (EG, pg. 180)
On day one, the question is asked, “What is one act of obedience you could take that would lead you into a deeper walk with God than you have yet known?” (EG, pg. 180)
Hopefully, the Holy Spirit impressed upon you one area that will draw you closer to God. Mine was 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.” Being more intentional about continuously communicating with and listening to God. In doing so, I’m more likely to know God’s activity, and what He wants me to do or not do. Because too much of my life has been spent looking at pieces in front of me, thinking I think I can see how it all fits together, and not bothering with getting instructions before I try to fit it all together. And without exception, every time I’ve gone rogue and not sought help from the Holy Spirit, I’ve ended up with a lopsided mess that wasn’t stable or safe for me.
“To experience God at work in and through you, you must obey Him. When you obey Him, He will accomplish His work through you, and you will come to know Him by experience.” (EG, pg. 180)
One of the summary statements is “Obedience is the outward expression of my love for God.” (EG, pg. 182) So, the question becomes, “How evident is your love for God?”
1 John 5:3 CEV “We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.”
So, why then, do we have such a hard time obeying God? Day two gives us an in-the-face answer. “Many people today are self-centered. They base their life on what they want to do. They view discussions of obedience as demeaning.” (EG, pg. 183)
Would you agree that any disobedience towards God is rooted in selfishness? How could it not be?
We know because God’s Word tells us, that our salvation is not earned. There is not one thing we can do to deserve God’s gift of salvation. “True Christian obedience flows from a heart of gratitude for the grace the Lord has given us.”[i]
Have you ever dealt with an ungrateful child? How many of us were ungrateful children to our parents? I remember, as a child and even a teenager, occasionally thanking my mom for cooking meals and when she would take me shopping. I would often thank my dad when he would bring home something special for us or when he’d let me do something I wanted to do. I also recall thanking them for vacations. But I don’t know that I ever thanked them for giving us a safe place to live, for running water, electricity, groceries in the cabinets, or taking me to extra-curricular activities, etc. Instead, I remember complaining because my bedroom wasn’t as big as some of my friends’ rooms. I rolled my eyes because Daddy fussed at us when we’d leave lights on in an empty room. I grumbled when I couldn’t find anything “good” to eat and I’d get frustrated when one of my parents was a minute or two late picking me up from those extra-curricular activities that I also failed to thank them for.
I’m ashamed to say that I’m often an ungrateful and disobedient child of God too. Sure, I thank Him for the big things, but I often neglect to thank Him for things I take for granted. And when I overlook His grace or when I take it for granted, those are the times I am most disobedient because I am not living in a state of thankfulness. I suffer from what I would call “selective awareness” because I’m not always diligent in being aware of God’s activity and God’s instructions for me. And so, I end up being disobedient to Him.
“Servants of God do what He commands. They obey Him. Servants do not have the option to decide what or when or how they will obey. Choosing not to obey in His way and on His timetable is rebellion, and such disobedience brings serious consequences. Delayed obedience is disobedience.” (EG, pg. 183)
How do you feel about being a servant? That’s not necessarily a feel-good term, is it? When we think of the word ‘servant’, it conjures up an image of not being in control, being bossed around, having to do things we may not want to do, and not being free. Let me read a few verses from Romans 6.
Romans 6:16 ERV “16 Surely you know that you become the slaves of whatever you give yourselves to. Anything or anyone you follow will be your master. You can follow sin, or you can obey God. Following sin brings spiritual death, but obeying God makes you right with him. 17 In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully obeyed what you were taught. 18 You were made free from sin, and now you are slaves to what is right. 19 I use this example from everyday life because you need help in understanding spiritual truths. In the past you offered the parts of your body to be slaves to your immoral and sinful thoughts. The result was that you lived only for sin. In the same way, you must now offer yourselves to be slaves to what is right. Then you will live only for God.”
Those verses pretty much tell us that we are either a servant or a slave to God or we are a servant or slave to sin. Either way, we’re servants. The difference is being a slave to sin brings darkness, consequences, and death, and being a servant to God and obeying Him “means joy and uninterrupted fellowship”. (EG, pg. 183) What sounds more appealing?
Disobedience to God is pleasing to Satan.
One of the tasks from day two was to go back and look at the end of each day’s lesson and what we felt God wanted us to do in response to that day’s study. I hope you took the time to do just that. If you did, did you see a common thread? Some of the ones I had written down multiple times were to be more intentional about listening when I prayed and not just speaking, praying more and worrying less, and being less self-focused and more God-focused.
I wish I could say that I have made a 100% improvement on each of these, but I can’t. I will say that I have made some progress and will continue to do so.
2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV challenges us “let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
Complete obedience is something we work towards, we work on perfecting. We will not become completely and automatically obedient; it’s a daily challenge that we must be intentional about until the day we are called home to Heaven.
That’s why “God often gives a second chance.” (EG, pg. 185)
Have you ever used a second chance from God? Trust me, you have! Even if you don’t recognize it.
“Because God is interested in developing your character, at times, He lets you proceed in your wrong direction, but He will never let you go far without disciplining you to bring you back to Him. In your relationship with God, He may let you make a wrong decision. Then the Spirit of God leads you to recognize it is not God’s will and He guides you back to the right path. He clarifies what He wants. He even takes the circumstances of your disobedience and works them together for good (see Rom. 8:28) as He corrects you and teaches you His ways. Sometimes God does not give a second chance.” (EG, pg. 186)
Day three is titled “God Works Through You”. Think about a time when God has worked through you. Was it humbling to consider that God used you?
Just this past week, I was invited to participate in a special prayer gathering concerning a frightening and complicated situation. We were told to meet at 10:30 am Friday morning. I had something else planned, but I felt compelled to go.
When we gathered, there were about 25-30 people, holding hands in a circle in a yard. Anyone could pray out loud as they chose. The prayers were filled with anguish, pleadings, and such raw emotions. After about 30 minutes or so, the last group prayer was said; but before we dismissed, we were told to walk around the yard individually and pray for this situation. One of the ladies spoke up and asked if we could all just shout out “hallelujah” to God, thanking Him and praising Him for being in our midst and for hearing our prayers. I can’t even begin to tell you the power that I felt at that time. Here we were, a diverse group of servants of God, standing outside in a yard, shouting hallelujah at the top of our lungs. The presence of the Holy Spirit was undeniable!
We then broke off as a group and went off on our own or in very small groups and continued to pray. Around 11:15 a.m. or so, I left as did a few others. My heart was heavy and I was so burdened by the unknown. But I kept remembering what the Holy Spirit had convicted me of on day 1. Pray without ceasing. And so I did. I constantly lifted the situation and those involved up to Him.
I got a text the next day that the person we had gathered to pray for at 10:30 am on Friday became so overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit at 11:00 am on Friday morning that they had to pull over to the side of the road. AT THE VERY TIME we were gathered before God and crying out to Him, raising our hallelujahs, God’s activity reached the one for whom we were praying.
When I got the text, my first thought was ‘We experienced God!’ I sobbed. Not just because of the outcome of the situation, but because God had allowed me the opportunity to experience Him. You see, that prayer meeting would have happened whether I was there or not. I was inconsequential in that gathering. The same goes for every other person there. But I was humbled that God had invited me to witness His activity firsthand.
“You will be blessed when God does a special God-sized work through you. You will come to know Him in a way that brings joy to your life. When other people see you experiencing God that way, they will want to know how they can experience God that way too. Be prepared to point them to God.” (EG, pg. 190)
That experience became a spiritual marker for me. And I would have missed it had I been disobedient and not gone.
Does it ever seem that experiences with God are few and far between? If so, do you think it may be because of disobedience? Missing out on opportunities when God calls you to join Him in what He’s already doing?
Does it seem that God works slowly in your life?
Have you discovered that what we think is logical is often not God’s solution?
“I must know the ways of God so thoroughly that if something doesn’t measure up to God’s ways, I will know it is not from Him and will turn away from it.” (EG, pg. 196)
The Bible is often referred to as life’s instruction manual and there’s truth in that. But the Bible is really God’s love letter to us because it gives us instructions on how to live our lives pleasing to Him and how to have a continuing love relationship with Him that is real and personal. Our role is to read the instructions He gives us and follow them step by step.
It makes no difference how big of a mess you’ve made of the pieces in your life. It’s never too late to pick up God’s instructions!
Beacons of Light 