Obedience – A Well-Balanced Meal of Service

“…Obedience is better than sacrifice...” – 1 Sam 15:22 (NLT)

I find that a struggle exists within me between healthy sacrifice and healthy enjoyment in that which God commands. It seems easy to fall away from the proper balance and toward either experience-seeking (doing something because it benefits us or we get enjoyment from it) or begrudging obedience, when we set our faces as flint for pure obedience at full sacrifice of ourselves, but with a sense of self-righteousness and the absence of the joy of the Lord. Honestly, I see most of us erring to the side of the former, following that which we enjoy instead of having obedience as our starting point and guide; however, I believe that God has designed us and His commands to have a good balance of both flavors: sacrifice and joy. This is of course a paradox to the human mind because it is the work of the Holy Spirit who is higher, greater, and not limited by human imperfection.

As I have been recently considering decisions before me, in which I feel called by the Lord to service, I have recognized that it is going to cost me something. And as I wrestle with it all, recognizing that in some ways I look forward to the service because I love it, but in other ways would rather run away like Jonah because of what it could cost me, I feel that the Lord has spoken some truth to me about obedient service of our Lord.

To me, following God in joyful obedience can be illustrated by a well-balanced meal. A well-balanced meal typically consists of a main course (meat or protein), vegetables or other healthy additions as side-dishes, and even some sweet dessert (You might astutely comment that dessert means that the meal is no longer “well-balanced,” but I have included it in the analogy for a reason.). When it comes to decision making and living out our lives for Christ, being poured out as an offering for Him and our fellow man, obedience is the main course…it drives the meal, it is the center-piece for the meal, and it is the impetus for action. God will’s it; therefore, we do it. Let’s not forget who God is and who we are, created in His image for His purposes and His pleasure. Now, when God wills something, He wills it in all love, He wills it in all goodness and righteousness, He wills it in all wisdom and sovereignty, and He wills it in perfection. And because He is God and we are His servants, what He wills, we obey. This is the main course of our meal of service to our Lord.

Even the main course in itself can be analyzed before moving to the side-dishes and dessert. God’s main course of obedience for His will is always seasoned with Himself, a pleasing spice to life. We may have to do some effort, working with our hands to cut through the main course, chewing on it such that we can stomach it, but there is a flavor from God that is joy in the midst of our labors.

And the meal of obedient service to our Lord goes beyond the main course of strict obedience, for there are further joys and further difficulties along the way. First, the difficulties, including repercussions:

As someone who has struggled to find the slightest pleasure in eating many of the vegetables that God has placed on this earth for our nutritious benefit, I relate the consequences of following God and the “grin and bear it” portion of obedience to the vegetable side-dish. You may chuckle here, as I do…and I do enjoy many vegetables (rest easy, Mom, I am eating my vegetables…at least sometimes), but think of that one vegetable that you absolutely can’t stand…the one you wouldn’t eat unless you were forced to. Well, sometimes that vegetable shows up on our plate of obedient service to our Lord. But I have already hinted at the dichotomy of eating such an unpleasant item: God uses it to strengthen and nourish us in a unique way that our main course and certainly our dessert could not do. We must have the spiritual vitamins that are contained within sacrificial obedience to our Lord. It will not always be easy, and in fact, many times it will be hard to obey the Lord. This is because it will cost us something. This is because our circumstances may be less favorable. But God has placed it in front of us as we noted before with all love, goodness, righteousness, wisdom, sovereignty, and perfection…will we not accept what God has handed directly to us? We will, and we must willingly consume that which is nearly unpalatable, such that our souls receive perfectly balanced spiritual nutrition from God Himself.

And finally, our favorite part: dessert. Yes, obedient service to our Lord always comes with dessert. There is a time that is coming, after we have finished our full courses of obedience—the main course, the side dishes and everything else—that we will receive the joyous perspective of God and marvel at such a well prepared meal of service as we delight in all that God has done, is doing, and will do. The joy that flows naturally from the Spirit will be a sweet, sweet dessert to our souls. This sounds like a reference to Heaven, and it is, but it is a reference to the “here and now” on earth, as well.

Psalm 27:13: - “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (NKJV)

You see, God provides us the sweetest of joys as we grow closer to Him through obedient service, and He does so not only in Heaven, but in the land of the living.

In view of this, it is easy to see how we often get unbalanced in our service. We frequently try to supplant obedience with dessert as the main course. If we live for dessert, we will eat more of it and less of our healthy balanced-meal. Likewise, if we live for experience, driven by our affinities alone, we will become self-seeking, forsaking God’s call. At the same time, we sometimes become so committed to sacrifice that we eat meals of side-dishes alone, and although this can sustain us for a time, we will need some core nourishment of a well-seasoned main course to sustain us. Furthermore, if we have come to a place where obedience has no joy, then we are susceptible to refraining from partaking any longer, starving ourselves of God’s leading because we are wearied in our unbalanced approach to obedience without joy. And so it is important that we remember that obedient service to our Lord is a well-balanced grand feast, in which obedience to His will is central, sacrifice is essential, and the sweetness of joy is our reward and promise. Through the Holy Spirit, obedience and sacrifice are not without joy.

Heb 12:2 - “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (NIV)

I write these things only because I have experienced them and continue to experience them, and every saint that has ever lived has experienced them, as well. Even more significantly, Jesus Himself experienced it, as revealed in Hebrews 12:2, and therefore we must experience it alongside Him as we are sanctified to be one with Christ. Take heart in your present circumstances, accept the main course of obedience, willingly digest the unpleasant sacrifices in side-dishes of nourishment, and anticipate with certain hope the joy of the Lord that will be manifested to you by His Spirit. We could never conceive of this truth, for it goes well beyond human ability, and we could never acquire such a glorious truth, for it goes well beyond human utility. But is a gift of God, and one that He wishes to pour out on you.

“…The joy of the Lord is your strength.” – Neh 8:10

I pray that you take your place at His table, embrace the meal set before you, and offer your life in obedient service to our Lord. May the joy of the Lord be made full in you, and may it be your strength today and forever. Amen.

Decision vs. Discernment

Decision (n) – 1. The act of making up one’s mind

2. Judgment, determination

Discern (v) - 1. To perceive by sight or the mind

2. to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different

When facing choices, whether easy or difficult, do you set your mind to decide or discern what is best?

I found myself praying and mulling over some upcoming choices with the Lord this week. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit works in a way that separates my ears and mouth. What I mean by this is that I’ll hear something I say in prayer and have an immediate reaction upon hearing the words, as if I am not the one who spoke them. And so this week I prayed, “Lord, please help me to decide and discern what is best. I’m not sure I have enough info and I need your help to make the right decision.” Immediately, I was convicted of the difference between seeking to decide and seeking to discern.

Before I dive into the superlative nature of discernment over decision, let me first give merit to proper decision. A hymn that I love says, “I have decided to follow Jesus,” and it is both beautiful and accurate. As Christians, we have decided many things. First, we have decided to follow Jesus. We have since decided to put on the armor of God and fight sin. We have further decided to take up our cross daily and welcome sanctification. And we may have even made many life decisions, such as where to live, work, go to church, have relationships, and general lifestyle choices. However, in these latter things, the discernment mindset is superior to the decision mindset.

Heb 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Another quick disclaimer for those of similar temperaments to me and in order to be thorough: finding the dividing line between decision and discernment is very difficult and the lines will often seem blurred instead of clear. Thanks to God that we have His Word, which is sharper than any double edged sword, dividing truth and error, joints and marrow, outward actions or the most subtle inward thoughts. It is a broad sword and a surgeon’s scalpel all in one, lopping off the head of the evil one and also discerning the most subtle truths of God and man. Therefore, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to divide to the uttermost precision differences in attitudes and behaviors such as the decision and discernment mindsets.

Note that decision and discernment, though different, are often overlapped in space and time. For instance, you must first decide to pursue discernment. And once you have discerned, you have the decision to obey God or not obey. Decision in the absence of discernment is the source of catastrophe, both personal and sociological. It is the folly of man to make decisions without the wisdom of God. However, decision with discernment at the helm is the source of living and leading in God’s will. I encourage you to set out to discern God’s very mind, His good and pleasing will, then simply decide to follow what He reveals as His will.

The key truth here is that the decision mindset carries within it the sense of one’s self and will. If “I” make a decision, then “I” have chosen what “I” think is best, regardless of the complexity and how selfless my criteria might be. The key is that I am placing the emphasis on my analysis, logic, and wisdom by regarding anything as “my decision.” Compare this to submission or subordination, where I follow the wishes of another who has made the decision. In this case of submission, I am merely following and not deciding anything myself, except to obey the orders, no matter what measure of analytical skill or logical thinking abilities I may have. Any abilities or judgments of my own are irrelevant in that situation because the decision is not mine to be made, except to obey.

I often set myself into deep thought and analysis to thoroughly consider a situation, decipher facts from misleading fictions, trying to consider all affected parties, and determine the greatest utility between option A or B for the entire framework of affected parties. I know that whichever option can be most pleasing and useful for our Lord is the best, and so I seek to make the best decisions for His will. This is a seemingly noble approach, especially since God has equipped us to learn the Word and live in the Spirit to make good decisions; but when we have listened to the Word or the Spirit, I submit that we have done less deciding and instead, more discerning. Think about it: God already foresaw this decision, and in fact, he has placed it directly in front of you to make this very choice, such that in doing so you grow closer to Him and glorify His name. He knows your affinities, your tendencies, your weaknesses and strengths. He knows to what degree you listen to Him and to what degree you do not. And He already knows the very best “decision.” Now, if your God is with you wherever you go (Matt 28:20) and seeks to speak truth to you and guide you unto all truth (John 16:13), and has all powerful wisdom in all things, and tells us that if we ask we will receive (Matt 7:7-9, Luke 11:9-10), then why in the world would we try to make any component of any “decision” without hearing from Him and choosing His choice in obedience, regardless of how we’ve analyzed it ourselves?

In view of these truths, it is clear that the answer is in seeking His face and discerning His will, not in making a decision. The decision has already been made in Heaven! God’s wants option X! Do you perceive it? How can you be sure that your decision matches His will? The only answer is discernment. And in addition, the seeking to discern God’s will is as much his very will as the specific choice that He desires. Anything less than fully seeking Him in discernment, combined with making the correct choice (obeying His will), is less than His perfect will. Discernment without choosing what God chooses is disobedience. And choosing what God chooses without purposefully setting out to discern His will is His divine providential mercy and accomplishes His physical purposes, but has left us void of the glory of pursuing Him as He wills (We are apt to credit our own logical and analytical abilities in that situation, a dangerous place to be. Even the evil kings of the old testament and every evil man since has been used to fulfill God's purposes.). Furthermore, every good decision ever made by any man was either discernment coupled with obedience or God’s sovereign guiding hand. The former is God’s preferred will and the latter is His allowed will. The former is growth in relationship with God, yet the latter can lead us away from Him personally, as we become more self-reliant...even though in the good decision the physical happenings remain squarely within His sovereign will, our attitude of not seeking Him first leads to greater distance from Him. Therefore, we must both be seeking discernment and and following it with obedience to walk in God’s will.

You see, even though the approach of wanting to make our best decision seems noble, it is like a child who has been sent to the grocery store to pick up a key ingredient for the dinner that their parent is preparing. If the child initially seeks their parent’s guidance and upon hearing that there is a missing ingredient, immediately sets out to retrieve the item without hearing the specific instruction about which item is missing, the child is likely to miss the mark. Now, what an amazing instaneous response of service! What a heart to please their parent! Much like Peter, immediate action shows a good heart, but not necessarily wisdom in the action or decision. Sometimes, we don’t listen closely enough to our Father to hear the rest of the instruction, to discern His specific will. Suddenly, we find ourselves needing to make a decision, and though we may be skilled decision makers, how can that replace discerning the exact will of God?

I do not mean to split hairs here, so to speak, but I do intend to divide joints and marrow, truth and error, and I have found within me a source of error when I have considered big choices a matter of decision making instead of a matter of discernment seeking. The difference is somewhat self reliance versus complete dependence on God. If even a grain of sand’s worth of self-reliance is left in me, it must die, and the same is true for you. Not there yet? Take heart, it is a life-long journey that concludes in the perfection of Heaven for believers in Christ. But until then, let’s be on our way, let’s search out the great boulders or grains of sand of self-reliance and lack of faith in ourselves, confess to the Lord, and be refined for His purpose and glory, which is also our joy. I encourage you to take a challenge with me: the next time we find ourselves saying, either out loud or in our heads, “I need to make a decision” or “I’m not sure what to do,” instead replace those words with “I need to discern God’s will” or “I have not yet discerned God’s preference” in all sincerity. I believe that as we seek to commit our minds to discernment, we will not only find that God responds with true discernment and wisdom, but that we also have a peace in every choice, large and small, that we did not have before. May the God of all wisdom, all peace, all knowledge, all love, and all grace pour out His Spirit upon you this day with discernment for every decision and in all things. Amen.