Posts Tagged ‘Obedience’

Risks that Aren’t Risks

Friday, May 6th, 2011

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

I John 3:16

Growing up in the Soviet Union, Lena and her brothers attended an illegal Sunday School. The government passed laws the prohibited any form of religious teaching to children. Lena’s parents knew why. Children who learn nothing about God at home and hear years of atheistic propaganda in school will rarely become Christians.
So one of the women in the church, risking fines or imprisonment, organized meetings for children at her house. She taught them songs about Jesus and His love for us. They recited poems about God, vying for the chance to perform. She asked the boys to read from the Scriptures, just like the presbyters or deacons did. And she always served some kind of sweet treat.

There were other ways to hold children’s programs. If one of the children in the church had a birthday, there would be a big party for all the children in the church. All the kids would get dressed us up and wrap a gift. Lena’s mother sent her four children to the party in pairs, instructing them to take different routes, so as not to attract attention. Everyone knew that one of the neighbors would report an illegal religious gathering of children. The parents of whoever was having the party made sure their child’s birth certificate was on hand. When the police came to break up the meeting, the parents presented the birth certificate to prove it was a legitimate birthday party. Once that interruption was over, the parents told Bible stories and taught the children about the faith.

These people all took great risks for the gospel. Each in their own way, they responded to God’s call to make disciples and to teach the next generation. All of them knew the consequences could be harsh: fines, time in jail, death. Yet they all considered obedience to be more important than saving their own lives, because they kept their eyes on God, and trusted in His promises. They were more concerned with storing up treasure in heaven then preserving their safety on earth. They took a risk, and saw how God helped and protected them.

What risks do I take for the gospel? It’s a pretty short list. And the risks seem large only because I haven’t tried to overcome them. God didn’t have a chance to show me what He can do. When we take a risk, not only to do we have the blessing of obedience, but receive the joy that comes from seeing God’s work in our own lives.

The risks also seem large because I forget God’s promises: He will never leave me or abandon me; He has given me eternal life through His Son. Compared to eternal glory, what I’m afraid of losing seems very small indeed.

Lord, give me the courage to take some risks for you.

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God’s Sure Path

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.

Psalm 77:19

“Do I love him enough to marry him?”

“Which job should I take?”

“What do I do about my kids drifting away from the church?”

“How do I make sure I have enough money for retirement?”

So many questions plague us in life. Unfortunately, we don’t have a road map that can provide clear directions that guarantee us how to get from point A to point B. We don’t have any way of looking into the future to see what the consequences of our choices will be. Fear of losing what we have can keep us from making any decision.

Alexei Brynza faced such choices. From choosing a wife to choosing obedience to God over the dictates of the government, he had to find his path step by step, knowing the outcome might be unpleasant. In fact, when he married, his wife asked God for three years together. She fully expected her husband to be imprisoned or killed for his work in the church. But she was willing to follow the guidance God had given her, knowing that in the end, He would lead her to a good place.

This is great promise that we have, that if any of us seek wisdom, God will generously give it to us. Sometimes we can see the path we should take extending before us. Other times the path seems to lead us straight into water, where no footprints of those who have gone before show. In either case, we know that Jesus walks with us; we simply need to follow in obedience.

For some of us, we see the reward for our obedience immediately, sometimes we wait months or years to see the benefits, or may not fully receive the blessing this side of heaven. In any case, we can rest in the peace that God will honor us when we seek His will, and that He will be a sure guide.

Alexei’s wife was willing to follow God, to support her husband in ministry, even if it meant losing him. Instead, she was given 47 more years of marriage than she asked for.

Lord, help me to be obedient to your will, even if it looks like I may lose something I want, knowing that in the end, you will give me more than I asked or imagined.

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Barriers to Obedience

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

I writhed, I squirmed, I procrastinated. I knew I should make the phone call. I just didn’t want to. After the way she treated me the last time I saw her, I never wanted to talk with this person again. But I had some information that she needed to know, and the right thing to do was to pick up the phone and start dialing.

“There’s no need to call,” I told myself. “She can find out another way.” I convinced myself that she either wouldn’t answer the phone, or worse, be rude and obnoxious when we talked. Within a few minutes, I had a lengthy list of convincing excuses why I didn’t need to be obedient to God’s prompting.

How many times do we know what God is calling us to do, but find reasons to delay obedience or ignore His commands? Even Alexei Brynza struggled with this. When asked to move to Kiev to start the Irpin Biblical Seminary, he and his wife didn’t want to move. They didn’t want to leave the city they’d lived in most of their lives, where three of their four children still. And now that the Soviet Union was no more and Ukraine was enjoying religious freedom, serving as pastor was no longer the battle it had been. Alexei was looking forward to some years of ministry when he could focus on preaching and teaching, not fighting with government agencies. In the end, he realized that his objections were “light and momentary troubles” that he should not worry about. God’s call was clear; his role was to obey.

Alexei’s ministry as president of the seminary yielded a great harvest for God’s kingdom, and great reward in his personal life as well. The results of obedience truly outweigh the little barriers we put up in our own path.

As for me and my phone call? I dialed the phone, and had a cheery, chatty conversation with one who had been so offensive and rude, and she even thanked me for calling. God is at work in that situation; I just need to keep my eyes on Him and remain faithful to His word. What I thought was a horrible mess, He had already begun to straighten out and smooth way before me.

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