Obedience is a funny thing. You hear from the Lord a word about next steps. They feel right and amazing and He confirms along the way that it's His will.
And yet, doubt and fear crouch close. As you go down the dark path, He illuminates only the next step. We've heard the Word is a lamp for our feet (Psalm 119:105), but a spotlight for the whole plan? Not so much. That's where faith comes in. Faith is believing things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). Unseen, as in, dark. And I don't know about you, but dark is somewhat scary.
When I made this recent job change, I knew it was right. I knew it was of Him. And yet He built my faith through it in ways I'm still processing. The path felt dark at times, not always exciting. Only as I kept walking - one step at a time - did more confirmations come: a word from my pastor at one of the interviews, miraculous timing only the Lord could orchestrate on my first day in the new position. And I just keep thinking, if at any point I would have stopped and said, "this isn't right, this feels scary, this path is too dark" I would have missed the blessings. I would have missed the Lord up ahead, and all He has planned for me.
Obedience is often only understood in reverse.
Only now, looking back, can I see what He was doing. Only now, looking back, can I understand a little bit more.
So what keeps us moving forward towards unseen, good things when the path isn't always clear?
I think the answer is found in John 10. Jesus says He's the Good Shepherd, and that we are His sheep. It's so familiar and may seem too theoretical to us as Believers, and yet there is such a practical nature to this analogy. He says that because He is our Shepherd, and we are His sheep, we listen to His voice. We can come in and go out, and He leads us out to safe pasture just from the sound of His voice.
It's safe in the sheepfold. But when He says it's time to venture out, it's only safe near the sound of His voice outside the gate. The closer we stay to Him and His voice, the more we can know we are going in the right direction, even if the way isn't always clear. It's not always so easy, though, because there are other voices - thieves and robbers and hired hands. We don't listen to their voices. They don't have our best interests in mind. They will lead us astray, even to places that steal and kill and destroy.
But if we stay close to the Shepherd, we will be safe and know where to go.
Whatever journey you find yourself on, I'm cheering you on!
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