The Fall-Out of Obedience

There is something that has bugged me for years, and that is so­called obedience that leaves the obedient ones in perpetual unhappiness.  I do indeed recognize that often an act of obedience is also an act of sacrifice, and that may result in short­term grief of some sort.  That doesn’t account for perpetual unhappiness.

            So here is my question: is it possible for an obedient person to be perpetually unhappy?

            My answer is “no,” and I’ll tell you why.

            It is impossible to be perpetually unhappy if you have hope.  It is impossible to not have hope, if you have faith.  Any action—regardless of how spiritual or right we see it as—that is not of faith, is sin.  To put it the other way, if our action is true obedience, we’re doing it in faith, which means we also have hope, which means nothing can make us unhappy for very long.

            What brings this to mind tonight is that for the second time this week, the Lord has asked me to give something I held dear.  In both cases, my immediate response was fear.  In each case, the fear didn’t last beyond the making of my decision.

            The first time, it was money I had been saving.  The Lord asked me to give it.  I wanted to and I didn’t want to.  I was afraid and I wasn’t afraid.  But then I did it.  And when I did it, the Lord positively blasted me as never before with faith and hope for my finances.  Frankly, I think I was set up—with an opportunity to see God do something amazing.

            The second time involved something more personal that the Lord asked me to give up.  I think giving money or things is easy, really.  You make the decision, you do it, and it’s done.  But giving something up can be doubling frightening when we recognize our own inability to control ourselves.  If we “give up” ice cream, for instance, how do we know we’ll still have the same resolve tomorrow?  Not only, then, are we giving up the pleasure of eating ice cream right now, but we’re also setting ourselves up for the disappointment of failing ourselves tomorrow.

            The risk of tomorrow notwithstanding, I made the decision to give up what I believed the Lord was asking me to give up.  It was not an easy decision to make.  I was giving up something that was very nearly an addiction for me, and needless to say, I’ve been emotionally attached to it.  I took the leap, however, made the decision, and within minutes, I felt a surge of tremendous hope for that area of my life.

            These two instances were clear and obvious examples of a principle that I’ve seen many, many times.  True obedience, faith, hope, and happiness are so closely intertwined that you’ll rarely find one without the others.

            If you’re unhappy and you’re blaming it on your obedience to God, you’d better take another look.

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