Obedient to His Voice

One of the many attributes to being a child is learning to listen, becoming obedient. As children we are taught to obey our parents, elders, and teachers in whatever they tell us. However, we do have our rebellious moments in which we later realize we should have listed to our elders when they try to advise against an action. Furthermore, just as on earth we are to obey our surrounding leaders, we are also to obey our Heavenly Father. Yet, as Christians we tend to struggle with this concept no matter our age.

“But I gave them this command: obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you” (Jeremiah 7:23). God spoke this statement through his prophet Jeremiah to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. During this time God’s people had turned from His statues to the things of the world. If His people would have listened to what God was speaking to them they could have been saved from the death and destruction in which they were headed. Our Heavenly Father was constantly calling out to His people throughout the book of Jeremiah, but the people ignored Him. The same is with us. He is trying to get our attention so that he can show us the plans He has for our lives. He has a dream for every one of His followers, all he ask from us is to seek Him to find what it is.

There are two books that take a special place in my heart and I would like to share them with you: You’re made for a God-Sized Dream by Holley Gerth and Chazown by Craig Groeschel. Both these books are studies to really open your heart to seeking what God has called you to pursue, and really evaluating your dreams and pursuing them. In God-Sized Dream Holley speaks life into the hearts of the reader with scripture. She encourages readers to find out and call out your God Sized dream and turn it into a reality. She evaluated the good, the bad, and more importantly the joy of your God-Sized dream. In Chazown Craig ask of the reader to evaluate and discover your spiritual gifts, core values, and remembering your past experiences (both good and bad). Then he shows how those three areas come together and your “Chazown”, your vision, is revealed. However, both books require one to dig deep and search scripture intensely. I speak of these books because many young adults, including me, tend to question what their purpose on earth is. We question God on what we are supposed to pursue, or if we know what He is calling us to do we become fearful because we have no idea how to accomplish the dream. In fact there may be times we get so scared that we try to find an easier route leading us away from what God called us to do. For example we become like Jonah and we run the in the opposite direction.

One of the many definitions of the word run is “to be in charge of; manage” (English dictionary). The reason I bring up the term Run is because as Christians we at times feel like Jonah and start running from Gods direction. We take back the wheel that we had given God so that we can be in control of our destiny instead of Him. He can be clearly answering our nagging “what am I supposed to do?”, but we just shake our heads and say “no that can’t be right.” Yet, it fact it is God’s plan. I believe that the reason we shake our heads is because of the great unknown that comes with God’s plan. There is no safety net but Christ. We feel as if we do not have the reassurance that everything will be ok, when in reality we do, His Holy Word. Romans 8:28 states “And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” That is all the reassurance we need.

The Road is long and hard but worth it

All in all we have to not be afraid to see what God wants us to do rather than following our own plans. Obedience is key to finding God’s dream for us. The road is going to be scary, and most likely not easy, but it will be worth it. Not only am I speaking this to you, but I am also writing this for my heart to do the same. So let us band together as believers and follow Gods Dream for us. My encouragement is the song Dream For You by Casting Crowns “I’m Stronger than you think I am/ I’ll take you further than you think you can/ You sing and call me Great I Am/ So take your stand/ My child if you only knew/ All the plans I have for you/ Just trust me, I will follow through/ You can follow me.”