Trust and Obey, For There’s No Other Way

Last night something happened that made me contemplate my relationship with our heavenly Father. Here is what happened. My 8 years old nephew, Daniel, asked me to play a cartoon movie for him, so he gave me the name of the cartoon characters and the name of the movie. I went to YouTube and started searching for the movie. As I was going through the pages of the search results Daniel was getting impatient, and every time he saw the cartoon characters on a video thumbnail he pointed to the video and jumped up and down, and every time I went to the next page of results he grew more impatient with me—he wanted to watch the movie now! Finally, I grew impatient with him so I asked him to read what the title of one of the thumbnail he was pointing to said.

He read the name of the cartoon characters and the title of the movie and stopped. So I asked him to continue reading, and he jumped to the next line and started reading the description of the video. I stopped him and asked him to re-read the first line, and again he read the name of the cartoon characters and the title of the movie and stopped! I again asked him to continue reading, and again he jumped to the next line and started reading the description of the video. That’s when I realized he missed the most important word, so I asked him to read the last word on the first line–right after the title–and he read, “Trailer”, and soon asked, “What is a trailer?”

I explained to him what a trailer is and he understood that those videos he so impatiently wanted weren’t the whole movie which is what he really wanted. Why did Daniel grew impatient and doubt me? I believe for few reasons:

1. He trusted in his own wisdom and what his eyes saw—his own reality—and doubted my wisdom. For example, when he looks at a video that says “1:44” to him it is just a number in the corner that could mean anything or nothing. To me, however, it means it is not the movie because I know that the movie he wanted couldn’t be 1:44 minutes long.

2. He missed the sign, or rather the big elephant in the room, which clearly said “Trailer”. Why did he miss it? He could’ve been way too excited thinking he was so close to getting what he wanted. Or because of his limited knowledge he simply thought that word didn’t matter. Daniel was too focused on his desire, but as Christians we cannot act like children—we have to be wise. The Bible says:

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

3. As I kept turning to the next pages of result he started doubting my love for him and my good intentions toward him. May be he started wondering why didn’t I just click on the first video instead of wasting time, maybe he thought I was teasing him. Because he was so sure of his knowledge he grew frustrated and impatient with my knowledge, and started doubting me.

Trust and Obey by Fadi

How many times our knowledge of things seem so clear, (we had after all weighed all options and researched all possible outcomes), yet, God somehow kept silent or kept saying, “Not now”, or worse, “Not this”. Being from a Middle Eastern culture I can give you story after story after story of women marrying a man because either he has money, or the woman is turning a certain age when she is expected to be married! A lady, who is almost 60 years old, told me recently that she married her husband because she was in her late 20s and was afraid no one will marry her. She said even while she was walking down the aisle she knew she was making a mistake. Now, 30 years later, she says she has never felt a moment of happiness with him because of his immaturity and unwillingness to be responsible for his family (or even himself) and be a man.

I can relate to that lady’s struggle because I am in my late 20s too, and I dream of finding the godly woman of my dreams, getting married, having kids, and be happily married. Another lady who also got married because she was in her late 20s told me, “I was married to him for 10 years and not a single time he showed me he cares about me, and not a single time he attempted to make me feel that I had a husband I could rely on.” She divorced him because he committed adultery. I wonder how the lives of these two women could have been so different–so much better–if they had trusted God’s will and timing instead of their human wisdom and rationalization.

Of course, I could go on giving you more examples, but I know we all go through tough and doubting times. So instead I would rather share some scripture with you that affirms God’s love for you and His good nature:

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11: 9-13

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4: 6-7

Are you trusting God patiently? Or are you doubting Him—doubting His wisdom and goodness? Or are you waiting impatiently? Be careful: impatience can lead us to miss His best even though we are trusting and waiting. Are you seeking Him or seeking your heart’s desires? Go to Him, the source, and you will have His best for your life. Are you completely surrendered to Him? How about your thoughts? Are you willing to accept His will no matter what or have you already formed in your mind what His will should look like? Are you listening to Him?

Do you spend time seeking to know His will? Do you listen to His voice? Have you removed all things, such as sin, from your life that can hinder your relationship with Him by deafening your spiritual ear and hardening your heart? Are you paying attention to the warning signs? Are you dealing with whatever He asked you to deal with: sin, disobedience, habits, etc? Do you have the peace of Christ in your heart—the peace that can only come from perfect union with the Holy Spirit by complete surrender of your life and will to the Father’s will?

Finally, are you loving Him and obeying Him because He deserves your love and obedience or is it because you want to get your heart’s desire—is He your heart’s desire? In other words, what would you do if His answer to your request is, “Not now, not tomorrow, not ever”—then what? Will you love Him and obey Him just the same?

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.