God asks us to do hard things. Sometimes those things are painful to us in walking out what he has asked us to do. Often, when things are painful, we tend to avoid it. Beginning an exercise plan after years of not exercising can be painful. Creating and sticking to a budget, after years of spending frivolously, can be painful. These things are still to our benefit.
What do we do when God asks us to do something that hurts? Do we obey? Do we have to think about it? Do we procrastinate, or do we trust God and do it anyway?
We know that God will never ask us to do anything that is not in our best interest. We know that in our heads, but sometimes we need to know that in our hearts also and let that be a part of what leads us to be obedient to him. There is a purpose when the Lord tells us to do something that we believe will hurt.
Obeying God when it hurts can be a time of spiritual maturation. It is saying to God: “not my will, but thy will be done,” as Jesus said in Luke 22:42. It is giving our lives to him to do his will, in spite of what we feel. It is a chance to die to self, our desires, our plans, our intentions, and lay them on the altar as a sacrifice to him. The satisfaction in knowing that we submitted to the will of God is a place of peace.
John 6:61-64 talks about how many of Jesus’ disciples left because they could not accept the teachings he was providing. In verse 60 they say: “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
What Jesus was teaching them was foreign to the disciples. It didn’t make sense to their earthly intellect. It may have even sounded outrageous to them. Unfortunately, many left. The truth is that what God directs us to do may not always make sense to us. Since it makes sense to our all-knowing God we are in a good place to step out and obey him.
We may be thinking: “Lord, you know that what you are asking me to do is uncomfortable, challenging my pride, challenging my knowledge, so how can you ask me to do this?” But we can trust that he knows what he is asking us to do, and he knows why. We can move past ourselves and do the hard things. We can obey even when it hurts.
God bless you!
Nadirah Fareed
