Walking in Obedience

Good morning everyone! Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Let's take Proverbs 3 to emphasize the need to trust the Lord and not opt for what we can understand in our own minds. And if we would simply draw near to Him periodically, we would not opt for our human understanding.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones. verses 5-8

Allowing God to lead us requires our full submission and focus, which also means turning away from “worthless” things, as we see in Psalm 119:37. How to know the right “way” to go starts with what—or Who—we set our focus on. If our attention isn’t on the Lord, we will miss the mark of what to do and which way to go.

Psalm 37:4 tells us to “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” In other words, delight first, and the desires will come. Here, the word “delight” means to be soft or tender. The psalmist is intentional to not simply say “be delightful,” but direction is given to point that tenderness toward the Lord and not ourselves. When we are tender toward ourselves, we tend to our own desires, but when we are tender toward the Lord, we tend to His desires for us. The more we focus our attention and affection on Him, the more the desires of our hearts line up with His. The path isn’t always easy, but there is an ease when you remain submitted to Him.

Maybe you feel like you’re at a fork in the road, and you’re trying to decide which way to go. Maybe you’re realizing the path of least resistance doesn’t lead to lasting fulfillment. Or maybe you’re in the midst of navigating what it looks like to fully depend on the Lord. Wherever you find yourself today, stop and take a moment to refocus your mind on Jesus. Turn away from your Instagram or newsfeed, set aside the ways you might want to fight back with logic, and fix your eyes on Him for no other reason than to simply delight in His presence.

Our dependency upon His power and strength does not fluctuate based on our circumstances. Consider what your praise looks like when things are going well and what it looks like when things aren’t going well. What are some habits you can consistently practice to help keep your focus on Jesus, whether things seem to be going well or not?