Striving for Obedience

In 2010, I felt that God was asking me to take a giant “leap of faith” and trust him by moving to Africa for 4 months. Since then, I have surrender everything to him and 4 months has turned in a full time passion of serving orphans and widows by sharing God’s promises to them.

When I started this journey, I felt the weight of the “leap” and rejoiced when I discovered God’s protection, provision and peace. The “leap” taught me more and more about God’s plan of redemption for all his people. Over the past few months, I have felt God asking something else of me. I believe God asked me to leap, and in doing so I discovered how to rely on him. Now I believe God is asking me “strive” for something else. I have experienced his joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control through the leap of faith, and now God is asking me to strive for daily obedience. Obedience in what it means to be his bride. Obedience in what it means to be his friend. Obedience in what it means to be his servant.

All too often, people see moving to Africa as a huge thing that they could never do. This may be true, but that doesn’t mean you can just sit back and ignore God’s redemptive plan for every one of his children. I have to be honest with you all, my life doesn’t look a lot different from yours. Mine just involves a lot of really cute children and house mothers who need to be loved, cared for and given a place to belong.

As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, we should be slaves who obey our master. Good slaves who strive to do whatever their master desires, so that their master can shine. My master is my Heavenly Father. Every day, I strive to remain obedient to him. I want to be faithful in completing whatever tasks he asks me to do, so that he shines. It is not my story, or “leap of faith” that I desire to be known, but the redemptive story of God’s plan and Jesus’ leap to the cross.  

I pray that as you and I journey together through God’s story, we strive to make our Abba Daddy shine.