Why obedience is the secret sauce to living with purpose
I’m trying something new this Fall. I don’t know about you, but there’s always a mixture of excitement and those nervous butterflies when I’m stepping into the unknown. I signed up for a Bible Study. While I love leading and writing Bible studies of my own, sometimes it feels good to be a part of something and learn something for yourself. So I signed up for a local BSF this year. It’s literally been 1 million years since my last BSF involvement so I’m learning the ropes, if you will. We’re studying the exile of Israel and Judah and so far there has been ONE overarching theme. Are you ready for it?
Obedience is not dependent on the results.
I’ve experienced this truth myself in many ways throughout my One Foot journey. If I’m honest with you, I don’t always live like this. If you're new around here, One Foot Coaching started when God tapped me on the shoulder and told me to leave my job at a local church after 10 years of ministry. I was terrified and yet felt He had been preparing my heart for this step for years.
At the time, I was obedient and took a step of faith. I signed up for life coaching school. Got a part-time job. And taught myself how to write and design websites to keep the $$ flowing in. I was stepping out in faith in courageous obedience. But you know what I don’t talk about during that time? My expectations. You see, I had taken brave risks for God and as a reward I thought God would send me clients. Lots of them. Rooms packed with women ready to dive into Scripture and use coaching tools to apply what they were learning.
Want to guess what happened? God blessed me with one of the best communities I’ve ever been a part of. Faithful women who wanted to learn and grow. The One Foot community has been small and mighty, but if I’m honest I thought I would have the kind of results where I can work on One Foot full time. Which leads me to…
The story of Phillip
One of my favorite stories in the book of Acts is about Phillip. Phillip was walking along the road when the angel of the Lord directs him in a certain direction (go this way). He runs into a eunuch in a chariot and the Holy Spirit tells him to stay close to the chariot. It turns out the eunuch was reading from the book of Isaiah and Phillip was able to explain what he was reading.
Here’s why it’s one of my faves…Phillip didn’t ask why he was going down a certain road or why he needed to stay near the chariot. He didn’t ask God to reveal the whole plan. He just chose to be obedient with the very next step. And he was obedient, God revealed more of His plan.
There are too many times where I have more questions than Phillip. Why are we doing this God? What’s next after that? How is this going to work? If you relate to any of those questions, then maybe Phillip’s story has something to say.
One last example
You remember that Bible study I told you about at the beginning. The first couple of weeks was spent in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel, if you’ve never read about him, expected to be a priest for Israel. But then the unexpected happened. The king of Babylon invaded and took him and his fellow countrymen into exile. Ezekiel was lamenting by a river with the rest of the exiles, wondering about that calling he had — when God called him to be a prophet to his people in the middle of the exile. His calling came with a warning from God. The warning was that the people he would preach to would not listen. (Not a ringing endorsement for success). But Ezekiel chose to be bravely obedient even in the face of the opposition. He was obedient even without a guarantee of results to come.
That brings us to you and me and our purpose. The reality is this….results don’t equal success. God’s purpose for us may be small, but mighty. It may involve stepping in faith even when you don’t see the results. It may include trusting God with one step until He reveals the next one.
So I’m wondering…Where is God asking you to be obedient without the results? In your most important relationships? At work? In your neighborhood? In serving at your church? In carving out time to join that community?
Whatever it is, the truth is this: God is faithful and His idea of success in our calling and purpose doesn’t always look the same as ours. We can choose to trust him without results because we know He will take care of the rest.
