Obedience Is the Way to Awesome

Behold! Not a word we're really accustomed to using, but it grabs our attention, doesn't it? We tend to be "Listen!" or "Check this out!" sort of people. But God? Whether it's Behold!, Listen up!, or Get a load of this!, when He says it's going to be awesome, He means it.

In Exodus 34:10, God is renewing His covenant with His people, Israel. Behold! is just the beginning:

I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

The Complete Jewish Bible says, What I am going to do through you will be awesome! 

Imagine that! Awesome! Through His people! Where do your thoughts go? Are you picturing throngs of people moving forward in an emotional altar call? Are you seeing homeless and women's shelters spanning the globe? How about luscious green crops growing in the once barren fields of an impoverished country? How about those children we have been praying for night after terrible night, finally falling on their faces before our Lord God? Awesome! 

God goes on:

Observe what I command you this day. (Exodus 34:11)

Okay, God! You got it, God! Anything You say, God!

Don't get too friendly with the world. In fact, shed their garments, break their molds, reject the things they love, and maybe even annoy them a little --okay, a lot. Don't give yourselves or your children to them. Don't imitate them or try to integrate their practices into worshiping Me. Eat matzoh. Give me your first born. Redeem your firstborn. Rest 1/7 of your life. Celebrate the ingathering and Shavuot and Passover. Keep kosher. (Exodus 34:12-28, my paraphrase)

And that's it? No battles? No fundraisers? No preaching or teaching? No healing services? No social justice warriors? 

Nope. Just live as I've instructed you to live. Obey Me.

Doesn't sound very awesome, does it? Not by our standards. In fact, it sounds downright dull, and it's incredibly difficult. There are no peaks and valleys; this land is flat and you can see its perpetuity for as long as they keep making calendars. Wash, rinse, repeat. Steady as she goes. Obey, obey, obey. The small things... Obey. The big things... Obey. The good days... Obey. The bad days... Obey.

Obedience is the pathway to awesome --the way God defines it. Thirty years of punching the same clock, sharing your faith with the same renitent coworkers is the way to awesome. Countless years of pastoring a church, answering the midnight phone calls of people who never seem to follow your counsel anyway, is the way to awesome. Teaching tiny hands to tie their shoes and fold together in prayer is the way to awesome. Day after day, night after night of living a life that will never make the pages of this world's newspapers or gain the attention and accolades of even one celebrated politician, is the way to awesome. Who knows, there might be a faraway mission field or a podcast in your future; but only if God calls you to it, only if God says, This is the way, walk in it. It's going to be awesome!

Photo courtesy Mark Sutherland

Learning with Luci

"The dog really needs to get locked up," my husband advised, as I was preparing to join him in moving a bulky toolbox down a flight of steps. "No," I said, "because she's going to sit."

Place! I gave the command and Luci took her place, sitting obediently nearby.

I had no reservations about her staying put; when it comes to certain things, our dog is just a rockstar! Other things, however, like resisting cats, squirrels, dogs, rabbits, deer --pretty much anything with four legs-- well, that's a whole different story. I have been working with Luci to overcome her reactivity to other animals and the neighbor who likes to do push-ups out front of his house. Four "legs," remember? When Luci reacts, I command her to lie down and together we wait. We wait until her brow unfurrows. We wait until she no longer grips the ground with her front paws. We wait until she looks at me when I calmly call her name. We wait. It may take only a minute or two; it may take fifteen or twenty. The neighbors may start popping their heads out to ascertain why, exactly, I've been standing outside their home all morning. I might have somewhere I need to be. But if I want this done right, we wait.

The other morning, another dog drew her attention. Down! We began to wait. As the clock ticked, a dog barked, increasing Luci's anxiety. Moments later, a squirrel chuck-chucked as he scampered down a nearby tree. About the time I considered resuming our walk, a cat darted across our path and Luci's brow wrinkled once again. Twenty-five minutes after leaving the house, and we hadn't made it a tenth of a mile. It was maddening. You can give up and this will never improve, came the reminder, or you can stick it out and experience a more permanent way of dealing with all of this. The strange thing was, I wasn't sure if the reminder was referring to Luci or referring to some of the things with which I struggle on the regular.

We love shortcuts, right? Our computers are loaded with them, we all know the shortest way to get to the places we frequent, and who hasn't fallen down the "life hack" rabbit hole a time or two? But when it comes to dealing with those nasty little --or big-- habits, when it comes to dealing with sin, shortcuts don't cut it. We have to put in the work.

1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, our first step needs to be confession. As we take on some very practical new behaviors (pausing to consider the natural consequences of our actions, engaging an accountability partner, talking to a professional counselor, etc.) we can rest on some very important truths:

He is no stranger to temptation. 

He will help us if we ask.

He died for our sins --past, present, and future, so holiness is not some impossible pursuit. 

He knows our hearts better than we do. 

He loves us anyway and has promised to never leave us.

We can be assured, in our weakness, God is glorified; He will help us in our struggle, strengthening and encouraging us, even allowing us to sin so that we might learn a greater lesson and give Him the glory. But if we want it done right, we have to put in the work and trust that in God's time, we will see improvement.