WEIRD INSTRUCTIONS THAT PRODUCED WONDERS
A dear teacher shared a story once: Some years ago, he was in the queue at his bank to withdraw from the Automated Teller Machine. The Holy Spirit told him to go to another bank to withdraw the money. It felt weird. First, the other bank would mean extra charges. Second, he would have to join another queue again.
He obeyed the Holy Spirit. He went to the other bank ATM. He joined the queue. When he was almost in front, the Holy Spirit told him to leave the queue and step into the bank to open an account.
“Ah! Lord, I don’t need another account”. His head interjected. But he obeyed the Holy Spirit. He went into the bank. As he interacted with the Account Opening Officer, someone called him by his old nickname. He was surprised. It turned out to be an old friend he had not seen in many years. They exchanged pleasantries and contacts.
Everything seemed ordinary. Some years later, the man he met in the bank was key and instrumental to the purchase of their ministry land and expansion of the property. This is a transaction worth millions. It took him years to know why the Holy Spirit gave those weird instructions.
Beloved, your head seems to have told you that the consequence of disobedience is always some real evil- not all the time. There are times when your disobedience is about the opportunities and relationships in the future that you actually lost.
Some of us will not know how weighty our acts of disobedience are until we meet the Lord face to face. Some feel like “Maybe it was my head after all” because nothing evil happened after you disobeyed the prompt to stay in a location rather than travel. Do you know whether you extended an opportunity by another 10 years?
Why do you think Eve was confident to hand over the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to Adam? Nothing happened after she ate it. Everything looked just like before. It seemed like God was just restraining them from some great pleasure.
So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Genesis 3:6-7 NKJV
But what happened when Adam ate it? The domino effect of the consequences began to roll in one after the other- nakedness, fear, guilt, sorrow, pain, the curse, death, and other consequences.
The fact that nothing happened that you can physically see when you disobeyed does not mean nothing actually happened. You are the one not seeing it.
What has disobedience cost you?
Do you know the opposite of obedience? Sacrifice. To obey is better than sacrifice. If you do not obey, there is something you are sacrificing whether you know it or not. What are you or have you unknowingly sacrificed? Is it a generation mouth-watering deal? Is it a relationship that will save your child in 50 years? Is it a counsel that will reposition your ministry forever? Watch it!
temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa.