Genesis 12:4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.

God had just given Abram one of the most foundational promises in the whole Bible, and this is the response. It’s mind boggling to try to think of what might have happened had Abram done otherwise! Would God have chosen someone else? We can never know, but we do know that obedience makes a difference. This is a lesson children need to learn very early in life or they will suffer all their lives for not knowing it. It’s very evident that many today never did learn that lesson, at least not in the right way. God gives us the opportunity to participate in His plans, but He doesn’t violate our free will in that. We can say yes or no. This is where faith comes in. The better we understand the love and grace of God, the more certain we will be that obedience is the path of blessing. God’s instructions are seldom as clear as they seem to have been for Abram, but there’s a major difference in our circumstances: we have the Bible. Absorbing as much as possible of the Bible makes it far easier to recognize God’s specific directions, because we will be familiar with His “tone of voice,” so to speak. Sometimes people agonize over whether something is of God, when an objective look at their situation in the light of the Bible would make it very clear. I keep coming back to the truth that one of the most important things for hearing God correctly is the commitment to be obedient to Him before we hear what He has to say. If we have that heart attitude, we will be instruments of blessing, just as Abram was.

My record of obedience has been spotty, to say the least. It is on record that I stated a call to missions when I was 10, but I seem to have forgotten that very quickly, and it was many years before I was conscious in my obedience. Cathy likewise recognized her calling at 12, and had that narrowed to Japan at 13, but wasn’t moving toward it consciously much of the time between then and our arrival in Japan. I remember very clearly the moment the Lord made it very clear to both of us at the same time that we were to leave the US and come over here, right then. That gave a lot of clarity, and He opened the doors remarkably. He is the judge of how obedient I have been to Him since then, but I trust and rely on His grace. I do not know how many people I have impacted as God’s instrument in the years since then, but that too is in God’s hands. The point for me is daily obedience, in small things as well as big, because I know that is the path of blessing for me as well as for those around me.

Father, thank You yet again for Your grace and patience toward me. If I had been in Your place, I would have given up on me a long time ago! Help me express that same grace and patience toward those to whom You have me minister. Help me not demand emotional fulfillment from them, because if I do, I will always be disappointed. Help me focus fully on You, letting You be my joy and my delight, so that my emotions won’t get in the way of ministering effectively to all. In this Christmas season with all its busyness, help me keep my eyes on You rather than on anything else and walk in moment-by-moment obedience, so that Your will may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!