Silent Obedience? - Wednesday May 08, 2013
Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8
One Christmas morning I opened a delightful gift from my daughter-in-law-a fictional trilogy that would entertain me throughout the winter. In the following months, I slipped into an imaginary community of distraught parents, tight friendships, disappointed lovers, and dogmatic bishops. The setting was a religious order with a legalistic bent. God-fearing church members struggled with submitting to leaders whose attitudes were, "Be silent and do what we command because obedience to authority is God's will for you." Because this thinking was carried to the extreme in the plot, I began reflecting on God's attitude toward me as my Heavenly Authority. Does He ask the same of me, to be silent and just do as He says?
Our All-knowing Lover obviously knows what is best for us when He gives commands, yet He does not ask for silent obedience. God begs us to talk to Him! He is first and foremost a God of relationship, which includes dialogue. Again and again, God requests our prayers (talking to Him) and even commands us to pray! As mentioned in the above verse, the Lord asks us to pour out our innermost thoughts to Him. Jesus reiterated God's desire for dialogue when He told us to "ask...seek...and knock." And in the garden of Gethsemane, even though Jesus was completely obedient, He was not silent. Crying out to the Father, Jesus expressed deep, heartfelt requests to the One who holds all authority.
God invites your dialogue! Let Him know your questions, your hopes, your heart.
Submitted by:
Rita Bergen
Lee's Summit Community Church
Lee's Summit, Missouri
One-Year Reading Plan:
1 Samuel 2:22-4:22
John 5:24-47
Psalms 106:1-12
Proverbs 14:30-31
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