Timing: Delayed Obedience and Grace

Have you ever felt a tug at your heart and were sure God wanted you to do something outside of your comfort zone? Maybe ask that visibly upset person at the grocery store if you could pray for her or ask your hairdresser to go to church with you.

And maybe like me you decided that really wasn’t God. I mean what if I say the wrong thing and make the upset stranger angry? What if I offend my hairdresser when I ask her to church?

Delayed obedience is disobedience. When God told the Israelites to take over the promised land they decided the cities were too fortified, the inhabitants too large, and they just couldn’t do it. When they realized that putting off going into the promised land was sinful, they decided to obey God. God told them to go take the Promised Land and go in their own timing they would. Unfortunately God had already told them not go. That because they didn’t trust Him and go, He wasn’t going to help them. And they lost, badly.

Why?

They decided to win the Promised Land their way, not God’s. They would claim the Promised Land in their strength not God’s.

And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. Deuteronomy 1:41b

And when we fail to obey God immediately we sin against God. Then when we try to fix our sin, we try to fix it in our own power without God’s Spirit. Inevitably it fails, because the things God calls us to do requires power from Him. We can’t do it on our own. It requires us to rely on Him, trust Him, and walk with Him.

In other words we can’t simply rely on ourselves, and do things our way and in our time.

Praise God that there is forgiveness in His Son.

Father God far too often I am unwilling to obey You in a timely fashion. I choose when I will obey and that is disobedience. Help me to trust Your way and Your time. Help me to honor You in all I say and do. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.