Thursday, June 21, 2012

Obedience Is Hard

Because Abraham had faith, he obeyed God
when God called him to leave his home.
He was to go to another country that
God promised to give him.
He left his home without knowing
where he was going.
~~ Hebrews 11:8 (NLV)



Maggie is an indoor kitty.  Our home is on an extremely busy street.  We are surrounded by dogs.  Not an ideal outdoor environment for Maggie.

But being the softies we are, we occasionally treat Maggie to the great outdoors on warm sunny days.  She either sits in a lap while we read, or like yesterday, she dons her harness (I hate this thing!) and with an extra long leash we give her running and playing room.

Yesterday the sun sat high in the sky, and the temperature was pushing toward 83.  I could tell Maggie's black coat was beginning to store the sun's warmth.  She was slowing down.

I casually mentioned it was probably time to head indoors.  I picked up my gardening tools and put them away.  By the time I turned around, Maggie was gone from sight.

Knowing she couldn't go far on her leash, I began to look in the woodpile, behind large planters, other places she might hide.  

Finally, I found her in this massive growth of myrtle hunkering down to be as small as Maggie could possibly be.  Her mind was swirling with, "If she can't see me, I don't have to respond to her decision to go inside!"

I coaxed and coaxed to no avail.  Finally, I had to bodily pick her up and carry her inside.  As I removed her harness, I began to think.

How often have I heard God call me?  

How often have I turned a deaf ear?  

How often have I hunkered down hoping to disappear from His line of sight?   

How often have I just blatantly said, "No"?

Too many times.  

Maggie's demeanor reminded me of myself -- 

attempting to hide from God's calling
 

with an unwillingness 
to go to a strange place,
 
 to step outside the box,
 
to take a risk,

to say yes instead of no.

I want to be more like Abraham --

stepping out in faith,

obeying God's calling,

trusting God's promises,

even though I don't know what lies ahead.

What about you?  

How do you respond to God's call for your life?  

2 comments:

  1. Maggie! What a cute kitty. I love how God hides lessons for us all over the place. Boy I've looked like a toddle at times, heels dug in and wailing at the top of my voice. And I've snuck off and hidden like Maggie. I'm so thankful for God's faithfulness that reminds me he can be trusted and coaxes me out of hiding.

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  2. Beck, thanks for coming by and sharing thoughts with me. God's unconditional love causes Him to coax us from wherever we are to be closer to Him and to listen with more open ears to His guiding. We are such stubborn humans! :)

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