Obedience To God Cannot Be Deconstructed

Last updated on: June 23, 2026 at 10:42 pm by Michele Howe

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Obedience To God Cannot Be Deconstructed 2026-06-23T22:42:50-05:00 Michele Howe

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As the days passed, I earnestly prayed that God would shift my heart and make it malleable and that I would accept the place He had brought us. | Image created in Gemini for Patheos.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1,2

I have to be honest. After several years of significant personal losses, I wanted to say no to God when it became apparent that He was leading us in a different direction than I had desired. Truly, my heart was near to breaking when I saw how this new chapter of our life was starting to unfold as the weeks passed. There wasn’t a day that went by where I was not crying out to God and begging Him to take us on another way. But it wasn’t to be.

Obedience Requires Surrender

Obedience to God Cannot Be Deconstructed

So, what did I do? I cried out to God (and cried by myself). I called out to God (and called every dear friend I knew). I prayed and prayed and prayed. But the more I sought a different (more comfortable) route through our pain, the keener I felt the anguish. I could not find any relief. Not from a person, place or thing. The rest and peace I sought were nowhere to be found. Until, that is, the Holy Spirit began nudging me to surrender it all.

God Is With Us In Our Pain

Truly, the very last thing I wanted to do was to surrender what I supposed was the cleanest and fastest route out of our current season of pain. But God had a different plan for us. Doesn’t He always? Ever so slowly, I began to talk to God and pray to Him differently. Inch by miniscule inch, I felt the Holy Spirit start to soften my willful, stubborn heart. He began to bend it toward the path God had set before us. Was it painful? Indeed. Did I feel like this new unfamiliar road was yet another loss? Yes. And yet, in the deepest part of my heart and soul, I knew God was in it.

God Is Always In The Heart Transformation Business

As the days passed, I earnestly prayed that God would shift my heart and make it malleable and that I would accept the place He had brought us. I asked God to help me see the good in these uncomfortable new surroundings, to recognize the blessings, and to cultivate a contented and thankful heart. And He did. But it took months to truly take hold. As God continued to work within my heart, He also did quite a bit of pruning and it was painful…every cut, slice, and trimming bit of it.

The Lord was revealing to me that even though I had given lip service to surrendering my will for His all throughout my Christian walk, I was still holding back. There were pockets in my spiritual attire that I refused to open to remove those barely discernible little idols I wanted to keep hidden.

We All Have Heart Idols

Idols such as how and where I spent my time in service to others. Idols that showed how far I was willing to go to forgive another’s offense against me. Idols that revealed how much I valued being treated with respect by certain family members. Idols that revealed how hard I would fight to protect what I deemed my rights.

Indeed, it was a severe and merciful process the Lord was walking me through. And the hardest part, from my perspective, was that I had already suffered loss upon loss from outside forces and now God was stripping me bare from the inside out. This season was a time of immense (and much-needed) spiritual introspection and cleansing. During these months, I learned a lesson I had believed I had mastered decades ago. But I was mistaken.

God Asks For All Of Us

Romans 12: 1,2 became my daily (hourly) bible meditation and it forced me to face all the hidden sins in my heart. I had to ask if I was honestly willing to yield “my all” to God in whatever form He deemed fit. So began my journey from anxiety and unrest to peace and inner calm.

Have I arrived yet? No, I have not. However, I am learning day by day that God wants my whole heart. He wants all of me, and that includes surrendering my plans, my preferences, and anything I cling to as precious to me. I must lay it all before His throne. As I obey Him in this calling to be willing to yield, He gives me much more than I can ask or imagine.

My Heart’s Cry

Father, today I am once again battling to relinquish my plans and my preferences into Your hands. I am discovering how deeply the root of my desires tries to rule my heart and mind. Please help me to be willing to yield all to You. I want nothing more than to obey your command from Romans 12 and lay my life down in full surrender to You all the days of my life. But I seem to continually fail when I am faced with the need to say no to my plans and purposes in favor of what You ask of me. Please have mercy on me, O Lord. Give me the strength, the power, and the grace I require to willingly yield everything into Your care and keeping. As I obey, I find the peace and calm I so long for each day. Create in me a clean heart and sustain in me a willing spirit. Amen.

The Yes That Changes Everything

Discover perfect peace in God’s past plans and provision. As you spend time alone with God today, ask Him to bring to your mind those past seasons when you felt worried and anxious about your life. Then remember how He led you through that difficult time with goodness and grace. Thank Him for being with you in your storms and reflect on how He challenged and grew and changed you from the inside out as you relinquished your will for His.
Discover perfect peace in God’s present plans and provision. Today, write down anything and everything for which you are experiencing unrest and anxiety. Be specific. Then talk to God about each and every struggle. Ask Him to direct your path. Ask Him to reveal to you if you are choosing your own comfort over His will for you. Then praise Him for His patience and faithful, persistent love toward you, and that He will never leave you in a place that will cause you harm because He desires only good for you.
Discover perfect peace in God’s future plans and provision. As you ponder the unknown future that feels scary and overwhelming, ask the Lord to supersede all your fears with His perfect peace. Give Him all the what-ifs and the if-onlys. Leave them in God’s powerful hands and look to Him to give you the strength you need to let go of your small plans and preferences in favor of His grand and glorious ones.

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Jesus tells us to obey Him if we love Him

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About Michele Howe

Michele Howe is the author of 31 books for women, children, and families. She has published over 3000 articles, reviews, and curricula. Her newest release, Brave Faith for Hard Things - Sacred Purpose in Ordinary Suffering is now available at bookstores everywhere. You can read more about the author here.

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June 15, 2026

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