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God Calls Us to Obedience

By: Dana Parrish

Posted: January 8, 2015

Category: Daily Devotional

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother.” The angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child and kill him.”

That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother. And they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out Egypt.”

Matthew 2:13-15

When I read these verses I think how obedient Joseph was. If an angel appeared to me in a dream and said take your little baby and his daddy and go to a different country would I obey? I would like to think I would, but that is a tall order. Mary and Joseph were poor and I imagine traveling that distance was expensive. Did Joseph say, “We are poor and just can’t do that. What will we eat and where will we stay along the way? Where in the world will be live once we arrive? Plus, angel of the Lord, have you ever traveled any distance at all with a child?” Nope, Joseph picked up his baby and wife and left. In total and complete obedience he picked up and left. Joseph trusted the Lord and what He had for the future of his family.

That type of faith and complete surrender moves me to tears. That is the type of faith we should strive to have every day. Is it easy? No. Is it scary at times? Sure it is, but like Joseph, once you are obedient and see God work in your life it becomes easier and easier to follow his will for your life rather than your own. What would our faith look like today if we lived in total surrender to God and what he has called us to do? God hasn’t asked me to uproot my family and move to a foreign country with no knowledge of what the future holds or how I will support them. And still there are times he calls me to his work and I ask him if he is sure he wants me to do this. Can you believe that? The last year and half has been an ongoing lesson of obedience for me. I am learning to trust him with every part of my life. A leap of faith is what Joseph took and it is what God calls us to do. It is how we do this life with God. Surrender and obedience is hard and sometimes we do it after a long hard fought temper tantrum. I will be the first to tell you that there are times I straight up cross my arms and say I just don’t want to! Then God stirs my heart like he always does and I give in and it always works for his glory. Every. Single. Time. I hope you caught that it works for his glory not mine. That is the point of this crazy thing we call life. To live it for God’s glory not our own.

 Prayer

Dear Gracious and Loving Father, please give us a heart of obedience. We know that it is hard. Sometimes it is too hard. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts so that we don’t have to do it alone. I pray that each time we find it too difficult to follow your will for our lives that we allow the Spirit to work in us and give us the courage to follow every place you lead us. In Your Name, Amen