The Blessings of Obedience

If you haven't noticed I've been involved in the Blog Hop over at Proverbs 31 Ministries for their current online Bible studies. This is my first Online Bible Study with Proverbs 31 Ministries and the book they have chosen is called Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. 

This week the topic I chose to blog about is obedience to God. This is something I have learned over the past year. My husband and I started our journey of budgeting last December and when we were obedient to Him with what he gave us, we were blessed beyond anything we every thought possible. Last year we also decided to start homeschooling. We have preschoolers now but our oldest just turned 5 and we have already started kindergarten lessons with her. It is an amazing blessing for us to see her learn and have that excitement to learn. 

This brings me to where I am today. I do struggle with food. Sometimes because I overeat and sometimes because I don't eat at all. When I do it's not healthy and providing my body with what I need. Neither is good for me. The reasons usually are unhealthy too. Stress and depression are the most common reasons for my bad eating habits.

Food seems ridiculous to worry about unless you are severely overweight, but what I have learned over the past few months is this is wrong. Food isn't about food but whether you can look at something and ask yourself, "do I need this? Is this good for me? What does God think? Am I honoring Him with my choices?" Just because something is available and everyone else is eating it, doesn't mean you should too. Can you practice self control when there is a piece of chocolate cake calling your name? 

How much difference is there between us and someone addicted to alcohol or drugs. Is food used to sustain you or to give you a small thrill? When you choose food are you doing it because it comforts you or because you are sustaining your growling tummy. 

On Tuesday I participated in my first fast. Our church does this once a month and ends with a prayer meeting. I wasn't able to attend the prayer meeting but I was praying a lot that day. It was a way for me to take my focus off food on put it on my Savior. I can say this was really hard and I was ready to throw in the towel at lunch time. I had no energy all day, fell asleep on the couch, my stomach was growling constantly and there were times when I just felt awful. Those low points sent me to my knees asking God to help me make it through the day. I'm pretty sure I was also asking Him to somehow speed up time.

I can honestly say that I felt a huge struggle to be obedient to him but when my fast was broken at supper time, I enjoyed a huge fulfillment and didn't feel guilty at all about my supper. I enjoyed being with my girls and felt extremely proud of myself and I'm sure God was too. I learned one important thing, it is OK to let your stomach growl. You will NOT die.

One thing I know is this, God calls us to be obedient. God also promises to bless us. What that means we may not know.

We've seen in the Old Testament story of Job that God will bless us when we are obedient. God gave Job many things. Then everything Job loved and cherished was taken away. He could have given in to Satan and disobeyed, but he stayed firm in God's love and was obedient to Him. God blessed him with even more then what he had lost. 

We will go through times when it's easy to obey and times where it seems impossible. In the end God will bless us and more then that, He will be there if we ask Him. It was never His intention to do things alone. Ask Him to join you in your journey, keep seeking His face and being obedient to Him and you will be blessed beyond what you can imagine in all aspects of life.