DO NOT LET SHAME KEEP YOU BACK FROM OBEDIENCE
We were attending a conference. Right after the Word session, prayers began. It was so intense. At that moment, the Lord told me to walk to the altar and kneel. I hesitated for minutes. Why? How can I be all dressed up, and sitting in a special area in the church do such a thing? Why would I allow people to look at me like I do not understand the “protocol of decorum and organization”? I just cannot!
Well! I eventually broke protocol and went to the altar. I held on to the base of the altar as I prayed intensely. By the time I was leaving the altar, I realised some others have joined me there.
Beloved, obedience will come with sacrifices. Obedience is always a sweet-smelling savour to the Lord. It breaks through the limitations of our humanity and connects us to the blessings of the Lord. God loves acts of obedience. He sees it as worship.
Second, there are times when you are not the only one that God is speaking to. If you delay in obedience, someone else can take your place. Late obedience is no longer a sweet-smelling sacrifice. Obedience must be prompt and complete. Some people got to the place they were sent and they realised that the work had been done. They have been replaced by another obedient son of the Lord.
Third, your obedience is always a pattern breaker. There was no one at the altar when I obeyed the Lord but others joined after I stepped out. God can use your obedience to challenge others. I know people who have caught the spirit of boldness to go to the place the Lord has called them to because they saw what obedience can do through the work in Eruwa here.
Before the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus and got her healing, everyone who got healed before then was touched by Jesus. But after her, many started making attempts to touch Jesus. Some were even challenged that they told Jesus to just speak a word. But do you know she had to despise shame? Do you know she fought her fears? God used her as a pattern breaker.
There are times when we are too composed and packaged for the Lord to move. Our “shell of protocol” is so thick that the sword of the Spirit seems not to be able to cut through.
A dear father in the faith went for the groundbreaking of a major project that would take years of construction. As they finished giving thanks, God told him to lie on the floor in Thanksgiving. He obeyed. He did not mind the size of his suit. The Lord told him, “I have taken over this project now”. They built it in months. The same has happened to me once also. God took it over. He did what no man could do.
Beloved, are you too packaged for God to move to obedience? Deal with it. God is always far from proud. Who is waiting on your obedience? Or will you be replaced?
temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa