BE STILL & OBEY
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God, may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
Psalms 143:10
“Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”
Deuteronomy 5:33
The holiest and magnificent part of the day is nap time! Yes, I said nap time. For a mother of three, nap time is an indescribable gift from baby Jesus. Two and a half hours of silence! So, on this particular day, everyone was tired and irritated, a nap was what everyone needed. All the kids were sent to their own rooms and in their own beds for a midday nap.
Instead of resting, I opted to do some work on my computer. Around the one hour mark, I hear noises from upstairs. Nothing major, so I ignored it. Twenty minutes later I see little feet run across the top of the stairs. I got up to see who I needed to strap to their bed so I could get my last hour of peace.
Who do I see?
Jayceface, pretending to sleep in his bed. Once I pulled the blankets back it was clear what he had been doing this entire time…
Bright lines covered his face, his hands, his legs, and arms. He colored all over himself with markers. When He heard me coming he jumped in his bed as if he had been sleeping the entire time. Even had the nerve to yawn and stretch when I pulled him out of the bed!! I threatened to get my belt, a bluff he knew I was making but truly all I could do was laugh!!!
How can I get mad at Jayceface for being disobedient when I was going through my own season of disobedience? My prayer at that time was about my career. Professionally, I felt left behind. I was still at the same job feeling overwhelmed and burned out. I wanted more. However, God was clear in His directions. He was simply telling me to wait and stop comparing my blessing (whether I realized it was one or not) to everyone else’s. Being me, I couldn’t just sit and wait. So, I started applying for jobs, went on interviews…all dead ends. Even while they were napping I was on my computer doing job searches.
Jayce was me…
How many of us ask God for guidance only to snarl at his response?
Just like I told Jayce to lay down and rest, God was telling me the same…
Be still.
Be Obedient & Wait
That wasn’t good enough. So, I pretended to trust God all the while I was doing unnecessary things that not only wasted my time but led me to frustration. I was making a mess of things. I was coloring all over myself with the markers of disobedience as if God would never know. What a moment of clarity!
Psalms 37:7 says “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Faith is trusting that God knows best. He did know what was best for me during that season of my life. In psalms 5:3, David speaks about laying his requests before God. Confident in knowing God hears his voice and how he will WAIT in EXPECTATION!!
Having faith that God will answer your prayers is one thing but being obedient when he calls you to wait (being still in His word through prayer, fasting, and meditation) is a big step towards spiritual maturity and places a different meaning on “Faith without works is dead.”
FYI- Two years after writing this, God opened a door for me. I left that job having realized that God strategically placed me there for different reasons, through different seasons of my life. I am grateful to have had a job that allowed me to be a blessing to others while being able to stay home with my children while they were small. When my season of change came, God walked me out one door and directly through another.
