Today's Pondering: Humility vs. Obedience
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”- Philippians 2:5-8
In thinking about the concept of humility as it relates to our obedience to God, I came to the conclusion that above all, He wants us to be strong. Some say that to act on your own behalf doesn’t show the level of commitment to faith that God expects. My question is, “How can you possibly know what God himself expects?” Sure, we have the Bible and its teachings to guide us and we can be relatively certain that if we follow the word, we are on the right track. But what about those situations that fall outside of what the Bible explains? Does it make sense to languish in a situation that is not good for you simply because most people believe that God wouldn’t approve of your leaving it? What if it was God who has been telling you to leave? Oddly, when I have asked this question of my friends and other believers, their answer is usually that God wouldn’t tell a person to leave. God expects you to stay where you are and suffer. I can’t, no I won’t allow myself to believe that God would give me the personality that He has given me and expect me to stay in a disempowering situation that hinders my ability or in some cases prevents me from being able to share my gifts with the rest of the world. That simply does not make sense. Why would God have me work through a lifetime of challenges related to becoming an empowered woman only to put me in a situation where he would want me to remain weak? I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that He would want this for me.
It’s never easy to discern what it is that God expects in situations where you have to choose between the path well-trodden and the road less travelled. You can only hope that the voice you are listening to is the right one and that the decisions you make will be understood by your God. After all, He is the ultimate judge and you will answer to Him in the end. For that reason, in everything I do, I go forward in faith knowing that I am following God’s command and that everything will be fine.
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My name is Rebecca Benston. I’m a Christian. I’m a woman. I’m a mother. I’m a writer. I’m a thinker. When I write fiction, I am usually writing a mystery series called The Rona Shively Stories. My P.I. character, Rona Shively is feisty, fearless and fabulous and is usually caught up in something she doesn’t want to be caught up in. In addition to this series, I also have a blog called Higher Ground for Life. Through this blog, I’m hoping to reach women or anyone who is seeking to develop a relationship with God and give them inspiration to get out there and follow His path for their lives!
I also have a blog called Leading the Follower. This one is my favorite. I write about religion, faith, spirituality and all that goes along with it. What we believe, what we don’t believe, what we are told to believe and how society feels about believing in general. I do a lot of testifying here and some of what I say may make you angry. Most of it will make you think. Some of it will make you cry. Any of it could make you laugh. It’s really up to you.
If you are looking for practical advice, honest conversation, and no nonsense observations about living in today’s world, check out my blogs at http://highergroundbooksandmedia.com and http://www.ronashively.wordpress.com and http://www.highergroundforlife.wordpress.com and http://www.leadingthefollower.wordpress.com. And if you’re so inclined, you can purchase my books and some other great, inspirational works from Higher Ground Books & Media at http://highergroundbooksandmedia.com.
Be blessed!
Leading the Follower 