Saturday, June 7, 2014 [Trust and Obey]
Psalm 125:1
"Those who TRUST in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever."
Acts 5:28-29
28 "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must OBEY God rather than human beings!
Trust and Obey.
In the Acts 5 account that we read today, Peter and the other apostles were arrested again for preaching the Gospel. I'm amazed at their trust and obedience, their conviction and boldness. Looking back on Acts 4, after Peter and the apostles had been arrested the first time, I saw the prayer meeting that they had with the other believers. In the face of the threats of the Jewish leaders, they prayer for the boldness to share the word of God with people. The presence of God was so powerful in that gathering that the whole place began to shake and all of the people were filled with the Holy Spirit. These were people who had decided that they would put their trust in the Lord. As the Lord shook the physical space where they gathered, He deposited a boldness and confidence in them that could not be shaken. This was a trust in God's power and sovereignty that fueled their obedience in sharing their faith yet again, knowing full well that they could possibly be punished for doing so – there were consequences for obeying God.
There are consequences for NOT trusting and obeying God, also. One of the most obvious that we see from Psalm 125:1 is that we lose our security – our lives get "all shook up." Ultimately, all of that "shaking" will lead us destroying our lives. It's amazing that the word "obedience" is such a negative word for so many people because many feel like their will and rights are swallowed up in it. Yet, God calls us to trust and obedience to save us (and others) from self-destruction.
As I write this blog, I realize that these words have very little meaning for us IF we don't "put wheels on them." We can talk and write endlessly about trust and obedience and it won't mean anything until we actually do it. After the apostles prayed for boldness and had that boldness put in them by the Holy Spirit, they had to wake up and go out the next morning to stand and share the Gospel once again in the Temple courts. Just like the apostles, our trust and obedience become tangible in our actions.
In this season of your life, right now, for what is God calling You to trust (and obey) Him?
Lord, thank you for saving us in spite of us! What a great love You've showered us with. Help us to trust and obey You in spite of us and our feelings. We ask for the boldness to do all that You have created and designed us to do regardless of the consequences.
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