Victorious Journey with Coach Bre

Early this morning, I let our dog Champ out so he could ‘go.’ Our backyard is partially fenced, so when we let him out, someone has to go with him to make sure he doesn’t leave the yard.  As he was roaming the yard, he heard a sound and immediately ran toward it.  It was a noise coming out of the hedges and it didn’t take him long to locate where the sound was coming from.  Champ’s ears were fixed on this sound, and because I didn’t know what it was, I wanted him to leave it alone. I had to take him by the collar and pull him away from this strange noise (not an easy thing to do for a curious dog).

What do Champ’s keen ears have to do with you, you may ask?  Champ heard this sound and his instincts told him to immediately investigate, to act on it quickly.  When you hear God’s voice giving you an instruction, how immediate are you to act on it?  Are you following God’s lead? I promise you, this message is not meant to condemn (I’m asking myself the same question).  

As we are in tune with God’s voice, we will receive an instruction about a particular thing.  The instruction may be related to a prayer we’ve prayed or maybe even a heads up on what’s to come.  Sometimes, the instruction doesn’t make sense to us, or it’s something that we really don’t want to do.  We may say things like, “God, do you really want me to pray for that person?”  or “God, why do I have to do it that way? Isn’t there another way?”

Think about the life of Jesus: while He lived on earth, He was both fully divine and fully human.  And as He prepared to be crucified, we see a glimpse of Jesus’ humanity when He prayed to the Father: He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Matthew 26:39, NLT)

Despite Jesus’ struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane, He knew the assignment and moved forward in obedience to the Father.  God’s desire is for us to heed the instructions that we’re given also.  The ask may not make sense, and we may not want to do it.  But, what’s on the other side of our obedience is far better than the difficulty of the request.  

I encourage you today (as I encourage myself) to follow God’s lead.  Continue to spend time in His word so you can know His voice more and more.  And trust Him for the outcome of your obedience.

I would love to hear your thoughts; feel free to comment on this post below. Thanks!