April 21

“Obedience may be said to be simply a matter of self-interest.  It is not a demand made of us, but a privilege offered.  Like yielding and trusting, it is simply a way of bringing divine wisdom and power to bear upon our affairs.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 4/21

A privilege?  Why is it we never think of obedience in this light?  Why is it thought to be something against what we want?  I’m far more obedient than I realize, though.  I just don’t label the things I do as “obedience”.  To me they are things I want to do.  Some things I’ve learned to “want” to do because of the unpleasant consequences if I don’t, but others are because I like the sense of security they bring.  I think this reveals why we often have a hard time “delighting to do God’s will”.  We haven’t come to realize that God is our security.  We’ve relied too much on the world’s definition of security and when our reality doesn’t match the world’s definition we question God’s provision for us.  If we do not fully trust Him we are not going to obey Him.  As a parent I learned this early on.  If my children didn’t trust that my request was for their own good they would not comply.  They had radar about anything that smacked of self-interest on my part.  Of course, sometimes they could not understand why a nap was in their best interest and would resist.  Likewise, we do not always trust God because we are ignorant of the consequences of getting our way.  But as we mature as children of God, like children do who are held responsible for their behavior, we begin to trust our Father’s judgment because He’s shown Himself to be trustworthy.

“I delight to do they will, O my God; thy law is within my heart.”  Psalm 40:8