Holding On: To Obedience
We all hold on to things at Christmas – hopes for the future, memories of the past, our disappointments, or the losses we have grieved and are grieving. And a lot of what we hold on to has to do with our obedience, and sometimes the challenges that come with it.
Why is obedience hard? If we trust that God is God, He knows our future, and has our best in mind, then why is it hard?
The path and plan of obedience rarely makes a lot of sense and isn’t always easy.
In the midst of those places, it becomes tempting to wonder if God is actually still God. We might start to question if He has our best interest in mind. It’s in those moments that it becomes difficult to hold on to obedience.
Matthew 1
18 This how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
The plans we create for our lives at 22 might not necessarily play out the way we anticipated at 42. When you were a kid and were asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, did you envision your current situation? Probably not, but what we once wanted isn’t best for us. At the time, we don’t know that, but God does. And as the plan takes shape, what was once disappointment turns into a sigh of relief.
One of the real challenges with our understanding of Christmas is our lollipops and rainbows version of the story.
An angel shows up to each of them. They say, Sure! And off they go. This should be easy for us at Christmas because it looks like it was for them. But God isn’t our red Staples Easy Button. We might hope that God will show up in our lives and tell us what to do; we do it, we press the button, and think, “That was easy.”
God does show up, but often, it’s not how we expect, and it’s rarely easy.
Think about Joseph, this wasn’t easy at all. For him, it was a disgrace. The angel appeared to Joseph after Mary told him. Can you imagine how awkward that conversation was? Why did God wait to send that angel?
In short, this was a disaster. Have you ever prayed or hoped for something in life and you feel like you got a disaster instead? Joseph had to trust that a ridiculous story was “God’s plan.”
So, he did what most of us do. Without a plan that seemed like it made sense, he made his own plan. And it was a good plan, but it wasn’t God’s plan.
On the fragile path of obeying God, there’s often a big difference between what seems like a good plan and what is actually God’s plan.
The difference between Joseph and Mary’s story and your story is that we know their plan works out. We don’t have that convenience with our stories because we are living them and don’t see the hindsight of the ending. We see the steps that looked like you followed God, tried your best to be obedient to His call, and immediately got harder.
This isn’t something you did wrong or missed. It’s part of the process where God is building something IN you, which may be even more important than WHERE your path is leading.
When we follow God in obedience, it’s often through tremendous inconvenience, even difficulty. Only with the benefit of hindsight does it ever look like a blessing.
So, why does this happen?
Sometimes it’s the brokenness of life. Sometimes it’s because no path is a straight line. Sometimes God is trying to develop strength in us.
Sometimes, there’s something greater that God is doing that we can’t even see in the moment.
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Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
Why is obedience hard? If we trust that God is God, He knows our future, and has our best in mind, then why is it hard?
The path and plan of obedience rarely makes a lot of sense and isn’t always easy.
In the midst of those places, it becomes tempting to wonder if God is actually still God. We might start to question if He has our best interest in mind. It’s in those moments that it becomes difficult to hold on to obedience.
Matthew 1
18 This how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
The plans we create for our lives at 22 might not necessarily play out the way we anticipated at 42. When you were a kid and were asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, did you envision your current situation? Probably not, but what we once wanted isn’t best for us. At the time, we don’t know that, but God does. And as the plan takes shape, what was once disappointment turns into a sigh of relief.
One of the real challenges with our understanding of Christmas is our lollipops and rainbows version of the story.
An angel shows up to each of them. They say, Sure! And off they go. This should be easy for us at Christmas because it looks like it was for them. But God isn’t our red Staples Easy Button. We might hope that God will show up in our lives and tell us what to do; we do it, we press the button, and think, “That was easy.”
God does show up, but often, it’s not how we expect, and it’s rarely easy.
Think about Joseph, this wasn’t easy at all. For him, it was a disgrace. The angel appeared to Joseph after Mary told him. Can you imagine how awkward that conversation was? Why did God wait to send that angel?
In short, this was a disaster. Have you ever prayed or hoped for something in life and you feel like you got a disaster instead? Joseph had to trust that a ridiculous story was “God’s plan.”
So, he did what most of us do. Without a plan that seemed like it made sense, he made his own plan. And it was a good plan, but it wasn’t God’s plan.
On the fragile path of obeying God, there’s often a big difference between what seems like a good plan and what is actually God’s plan.
The difference between Joseph and Mary’s story and your story is that we know their plan works out. We don’t have that convenience with our stories because we are living them and don’t see the hindsight of the ending. We see the steps that looked like you followed God, tried your best to be obedient to His call, and immediately got harder.
This isn’t something you did wrong or missed. It’s part of the process where God is building something IN you, which may be even more important than WHERE your path is leading.
When we follow God in obedience, it’s often through tremendous inconvenience, even difficulty. Only with the benefit of hindsight does it ever look like a blessing.
So, why does this happen?
Sometimes it’s the brokenness of life. Sometimes it’s because no path is a straight line. Sometimes God is trying to develop strength in us.
Sometimes, there’s something greater that God is doing that we can’t even see in the moment.
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on Instagram.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
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