What It Means to Obey

Last updated on: January 30, 2015 at 11:23 pm by Alicia T. Crosby

What It Means to Obey 2015-01-30T23:23:59-04:00 Alicia T. Crosby

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

” Samuel replied:“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:

If you know me you know I’m a talker. I can talk for hours if given the opportunity, communing with anyone on virtually anything because I love to communicate.

I text talk. Run my mouth on the phone. Have Facebook chats for days. You name it, I engage in it. (*shudder*…except Twitter, 140 characters is NOT enough to convey a thought for me; I acknowledge that I’m long winded.)

I’d go so far to say that a love of expression and communication is central to who I am. And as such finding myself in a space where I can’t communicate hurts.

Why? Because I feel God saying that I can’t.

There are situations in my life I want to give clarity to through speech and God says it’s not the season. And others where I’m led to silence for the sake of my own healing and so I can receive something necessary for my growth.

This is hard. There are times when God will call you to do something against your very nature, that grates against how you naturally seek to live your life. And you know what, it sucks…it seriously, seriously sucks but you’ll live. You’ll be ok.

You have to accept that there are things happening in the world around you beyond your knowledge or your control and make the decision to place your trust in God rather than in yourself.

You are being told to move or not move in a given way because the God of all better understands what is needed for you and those around you. He knows the good and perfect things as well as the hardship that is necessary for people to grow into who they are meant to be. Bless your heart but in your finite nature, you do not possess such a capacity.

So listen, heed the gentle (or not so gentle) prompting you feel in your gut/heart/spirit. Obey or yield to that understanding. It’ll save you (and others) totally avoidable head and heartaches. Obedience is better than sacrifice or as I’m understanding think of it this way: Listening now is better than saying sorry to God and others later.

Previous Post

January 22, 2015

Complicating Relationships with God

Next Post

February 23, 2015 Drowning Silence in the Noise

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Devotions Faith Justice & Activism Musings My Thoughts Poetry Prayers Spirituality The Blog Things That Struck a Chord Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2020 June 2020 October 2019 July 2019 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 February 2018 October 2017 September 2017 July 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which religious tradition sees the Genesis flood story as parallel to the Epic of Gilgamesh?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Greek mythology Hinduism Ancient Mesopotamian religion Zoroastrianism