I've been thinking a lot about obedience, Lord. It's the little things that You bring to my attention. I mean LITTLE things. Things that I can't begin to imagine make a difference, and yet You point them out to me and ask, "What are you going to do about that?" The only answer I can give You is that I will obey, but what troubles me is how much am I missing? I get so usesd to living my life and thinking my thoughts that I wonder if I'm listening to Your voice. How many little tings am I missing? I don't want to miss any, but I can be so blind and deaf that I probably run right over You, Holy Spirit, as you speak softly to my heart. Open my ears, clear my vision, make my heart tender to Your EVERY word.
I am so glad you heard Me. And I am so glad you obeyed. You are feeling the effects of obedience. It brings the blessings of tenderness and awareness to another level. You long more for intimacy and nearness, and you realize how very much I care about the way you live. You are excited to know that I will speak to you, and you can know what I am directing you to do. Hearing My voice often requires obedience in some very small thing. When I lay before you the choice to obey or to please yourself, there is much more at stake than the immediate options before you. If you choose to please yourself (or be true to yourself, as you might describe it), you diminish your ability to hear My voice. You have quenched Me, the Holy Spirit. The more you persist in this path, the fainter My voice will seem and the less you will sense My presence, power, and peace. This is all by design. Feeling far from Me is intended to bring you running to find where you have gone wrong. When you honestly seek Me I may again put a choice before you. On and on it goes.
The cycle breaks, however, when you recognize My voice and choose to obey. Then you hear Me more clearly and know My presence better as a real, active force within you. I do care about the many LITTLE things that you face every day, and if you will listen and obey moment by moment My voice will be clearer and stronger. Our intimacy will deepen, and your prayers will have more power because they will be according to My will for you and the world around you.
If you are walking in obedience you do not need to fear that you will not hear My heart. I will make My ways known to you and direct your path. You may not see far ahead, but you will have light step by step with your hand in Mine. Do not look for the bigger arena to practice obedience. Listen for My quiet voice in the moment where you stand and obey THAT. I will determine the impact and scope of your life as you stay quietly and firmly near My heart and walk with Me. It will be a life far beyond all that you can think or dream because it will be My life in you.
Psalm 119:1-3; 1 Peter 1:22; Ephesians 4:25-32; Jeremiah 29:13; Romans 6:12-13;
John 14:21, 23-26; John 15:7-11
