How Long Should I Wait Before I Obey God??

I love to read and always have a stack of books next to my bed that contains a mix of Fiction and Non-Fiction but I can say without question, that my FAVORITE book is the Bible.

No kidding!! The Bible is full of personal family stories, character studies, history, adventure, love and hate, life and death. It is truly an amazing work of literature. Best of all I NEVER read it without having an encounter with God. That is after all, it’s job! The purpose of the Bible is to reveal God! Sometimes, however, I need help embracing some sort of path or plan for my daily reading.

My latest journey through the Bible is being led by a study guide mentioned here…”The Essential Bible Study Guide”.

I am loving this book even more today than I did a few years ago. I am amazed at how what I read each days fits right into my life.

This morning I sat in my “Prayer Chair” (still so happy to be in my home!) with reading number 8, titled “Strange but True” which covers Gen 21:1-22:19.

It was so interesting to re-dig into these particular verses as I have recently been chatting with the Lord about the word “OBEDIANCE”.

Imagine that!

So often, when I am meeting women around the nation, sharing my personal story of immorality, my resulting abortion and God’s redemptive healing, they are struck by my transparency and willingness to share such SECRETS.

I wish I had a recording of the number of times someone has said to me, “Pat, Thank you for your OBEDIANCE”. It just seems to be something I hear over and over. I am always a bit taken aback and have no idea how to respond.

Imagine that!

It has happened so often lately that I have come to recognize that God is trying to show or tell me something. So, I have been asking Him about it.

OK….now my question is….OBEDIANT???…as opposed to WHAT????

As I read through my assigned chapters today (I am always drawn into reading more than the assignment–unlike my new journey with Weight Watchers I might add), I was taken into the story of Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice the life of his precious son Isaac.

No parent could ever read that story without being basically blown away.

I mean really…think of it….

If God asked you to lay your son or daughter on an alter and kill him or her with your own bare hands…WOULD YOU OBEY?

I think NOT.

Author Carol Kent has an amazing book called “When I Lay My Isaac Down” where she emotionally and transparently tells the story of her son’s murder of another man in cold blood and his subsequent imprisonment. Honestly, I bought the audio tape and listened to her tell the story on a long car trip. I cried for 4 hours! The time flew by!!

The thing I noted about Abraham in today’s scripture reading is that he is 100 YEARS OLD when this story takes place.

Sometimes it takes a LOT of LIVING and a LOT of seeing God do things that you can barely believe, to see His faithfulness over and over and over, to bring a man or woman to that level of OBEDIANCE.

It is interesting to note in these verses just how long it took Abraham to obey God.

Gen 22:3 says that after hearing God speak “EARLY the next morning”, Abraham set out.

Imagine that!

I have to be honest, I don’t like to do much of anything “early the next morning” much less pop out of bed and sacrifice a son.

Abraham didn’t even take time to question, or wonder, or pray about it. AMAZING!! He had learned to hear from God, to trust Him and to Obey immediately.

I am personally NO WHERE near Abraham’s 100 years (LOL!)–Nor his level of OBEDIANCE, but I have seen a whole lot of God’s faithfulness and His blessings.

I have come to EXPECT what happened next. In the very next verses we see just how long it took God to come to Abraham’s rescue!

The time it takes to bring a knife from head to heart.

In my own life, God’s rescue of me in my darkness and sin was so dramatic and so clear that I honestly have no choice but to tell my story.

I don’t see it as OBEDIANCE as much as SURRENDER.

Check out these definitions and tell me what do you think??

sur·ren·der:

to give (oneself) up to some influence, course, emotion//to give up, abandon, or relinquish (comfort, hope, etc.)//submit or yield.

OBEDIANCE :

obeying or willing to obey; complying with or submissive to authority: an obedient son or daughter

What do you think???

Obediance or Surrender???

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