Faith Is Obedience and Being Open to Change
Break Through External Obstacles (4-6)
If they obey and serve God, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasure (Job 36:11)
Once upon a time, a mischievous monkey named Max, loved to play pranks and ignore his parents' warnings. One day, he climbed a tree despite the sign, "Do not climb." While climbing, a group of birds building their nests warned him to follow the rules, but Max did not listen. Then he fell and injured his leg. Later Max changed and became obedience and he learned that obedience to the rules and those in authority can lead to success in life.
You are on the journey to Grow to Your Fullest, Step 3, the series of Breaking through External Obstacles. In the last post, we talked the fifth of the Six Elements of Faith, Faith Means to Stay Focused so you are not distracted by the noisy world. Today, let’s discuss the sixth element - Faith is obedience and being open to change so you have the wisdom from above to keep dedicated to your vision.
>> Refer Faith is taking risk and being discerning, Faith Is Holding on the Vision, Faith Is Confronting Brutal Facts, Faith is Determination and Perseverance
The last element in tackling through obstacles on a vision-oriented journey is obedience. It’s the last element but not the least important one. It’s equally important as the other elements, though rarely mentioned in the world, especially when people speak of success. The word “obedience” is usually associated with the Bible and is seemingly reserved for Christians. However, obedience is essential for anyone.
Without obedience, you cannot hold on to your vision. You cannot be determined, persevere, or have the laser focus it takes to get there. Why is this? Well, true faith cannot exist without obedience as obedience is an act of faith. If you trust your dream and believe in your vision, you have to obedient to it. The first story in Bible is a story of failing to obey (Genesis 3:1-5): Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman, “for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Eve listened to the serpent instead of God. Ever since, her eyes were opened and sin came into the world, so did chaos.
Kids are rebellious because they do not trust their parents’ love and their words for their own good.
Now let’s talk about reaching your vision. Before doing anything, you have to surrender your thoughts, actions, efforts, and time to your single vision. That’s obedience.
Second, on your way to the vision, you have to learn to adjust your priorities and plan to meet the needs of the vision, which is also obedience. Obedience also means being flexible and open to change in case of unexpected accidents or obstacles in the way. You have to be willing to yield temporarily, and maybe even willing to go around the roadblock and take a detour. You may experience some delays, but you will keep moving forward. The simple act of moving forward is obedience. Obedience is the hardest thing to do when what we have and see temporarily is so attractive and important to us. We do not always see the values of the bigger vision lying ahead.
When Jesus asked a young man to give up all his possessions and follow Him, the young man was deeply saddened and left Jesus in grief because he did not understand the value of following Jesus and the meaning of eternal life (Mark 10:17-27). Comparing all the rich possessions that he owned on earth that made him so honorable in front of men with the value of eternal life after many years, he thought giving up his possessions would be a tremendous loss. Because of this, he could not obey Jesus. Many of us in life also walk a similar path to the young man.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in America, approximately 73.6% of adults were overweight or obese as of 2018. Of this group, approximately 42.4% were classified as obese. The prevalence of obesity is a result of lacking obedience. Obedience is kind of discipline. Many people cannot obey the doctor’s suggestions and do not change their diets.
On the way to our dreams, we have to focus on the bigger vision and the long-term gains so that we may be obedient; we are disciplined, dedicated and focused on our journeys; we give up instant gratification. The obedience to a bigger vision is a great investment for living an abundant life.
Now we finished all the six elements of faith, and Step 3, Breaking through External Obstacles. In the next post, we will start Step 4, Bloom to Your Fullest and multiply your success.
May you grow to your fullest!
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