Trust and Obey—A look at Chapter 8 of Be Fruitful & Multiply

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” – 1 Samuel 15:22

I often hear people say that it is better to seek forgiveness than to ask permission, but that is completely contrary to God’s word. As stated in the verse above, God would rather have obedience than asking forgiveness later. I often wonder if people truly know the meaning of repentant. Being repentant is to turn away from one’s sin. If you are committing the deed with the idea that you will just ask forgiveness, then you aren’t truly repentant because you aren’t turning from your sin.

If you read the next verse, then you learn how strongly God views rebellion from His commands.

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected your from being king.”

Of course, Nehemiah was speaking to Saul at the time, but we can still apply this scripture to our own lives in that God will reject us from completing our true calling if we reject His ways long enough.

God woke Nancy up one night after she had been studying the issue of couples saying they are sacrificing having children to be free to serve God. He told her, “The perfect will of God for your life will never contradict His existing commandments.” How perfectly worded! If you feel God calling you do to something that is against a command in the Bible, then guess what . . . He isn’t really calling you to do that.

So many times people try to graft the advice of the world with what the Bible says and what they end up with is a weak argument for how they are interpreting the Bible. If God is truly calling you into the ministry (what the world considers ministry because I firmly believe that motherhood is a ministry), then He isn’t going to give you something that would hinder that call. If you are truly only supposed to have three children so that you have more money or time or whatever to be a missionary, why not trust that He will only bless you with three? If He blesses you with 6, 7, or 12 children, why can’t He also bless you with the resources to still go and be a missionary? The problem isn’t an issue of what you think you need to be successful in whatever it is He is calling you. The problem is in not trusting God that He can do all things!

Some more tidbits from this chapter . . .

“The truths that are written in Genesis are never altered throughout the rest of the bible, only enlarged upon.”

“We cannot disobey one commandment in order to fulfill other commandments.”

“Obedience to God’s ways, even when we feel they don’t suit us and it is contrary to everything we want to do, will always lead us to the ultimate blessing.”

“God’s ways are contrary to our natural way of thinking. They are usually opposite to the current trend of society. We belong to a different kingdom with different principles.”

What does God require of us? He tells us exactly what He requires in Deuteronomy 10:12-13

“[W]hat does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good.” (emphasis mine)

Not only does He tell us precisely what we are to do, but He reassures us that it is for our own good. Don’t look at God’s commands and something bad we need to endure, but as love designed to protect us and bless us beyond imagination.

What will you do today? Will you put your faith and trust in the One who designed you and created you? Will you trust the “majority” and go with what the world says is the intelligent thing to do? Will you obey some of God’s commands, but only those which you think you can or those that aren’t “outdated”?

Personally, I choose to trust and obey God. While I may not be perfect and I may fail sometimes in both those areas, it is my desire to trust Him with ALL that I have and in ALL that I do. I strive to study more so that I can not only learn all His commands, but learn how I can be obedient in all of them. Join me today—Trust and Obey!

Trust and Obey

When we walk with the Lord,
In the light of His word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
Let us do His good will;
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
Not a frown or a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

But we never can prove,
The delights of His love,
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet,
We will sit at His feet,
Or we'll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.