Obedience.

I strive to be more like God (as in godly), but I often see just how far I fall short of that. When I tell my kids to do something, unless otherwise stated, I mean NOW! Don't give me excuses, just get on it. And if you don't, you better watch out because the consequences are sure to follow. How unlike God am I! I'm not nearly as patient, merciful, helpful or grace-giving.

Back in January, God told me to do something (I won't tell you what because that's between Him and me, and not what this posts is about). I didn't do it, the opportunity passed. Then again in September, God said to me, "I want you to [do this]." I discussed it with my husband, telling him what God had told me. We decided that "Yes," we would obey. One thing led to another and life happened and we put it off and put it out of our minds.

Yesterday, God got serious with me. He made obeying Him quite easy. I almost missed it because I had committments to keep in other areas and I just about let that keep me from what I knew needed to happen. It's times like this that God gets out his baseball bat. I called my husband and in essence told him that this is the day we would be obeying the Lord about that thing. He agreed, yes, it sounds like God has out his baseball bat and is going to apply it to our heads if we don't wise up! I can easily picture myself with my kids in a similar situation, screaming, "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!! You WILL obey me NOW!" God isn't like that. He's saying, gently, "I have waited, but I see you need me to make it easier for you. So, here is the perfect opportunity for you to do what I asked. Do you see it? Will you obey now?"

So, finally, we obeyed. I gotta tell you, it was the greatest thing! It left all my expectations in the dust. There was peace, there was joy, there was blessing!!! Woohoo!! And, on the other hand, there was a teeny, tiny bit of regret. Wishing that we had obeyed sooner, because we could clearly see how much our obedience meant to others. And, had we obeyed immediately it would have spared someone else these weeks of worry and waiting. I won't focus on the regret because, perhaps this was how it needed to happen in the first place.

Thank you, Lord, for making it so easy for us to obey by opening the right door at the right time and gently (baseball bat in hand in case we got thick headed) guiding us to walk through it. And, Lord, if you don't mind, next time my kids are slow to obey, would you give me the same grace for them that you gave me? <3