For Things to Go Well
When God tells you to do something that seems difficult or unpleasant, He’s not trying to make your life hard or put you in a straitjacket. Often He’s just getting you to a place where He can bless you. ‘Oh, that… [they]… would… fear Me and keep all My commands always, so that it might go well with them.’ Anything God asks you to do carries this thought with it: ‘That it might go well with [you].’ Hopefully, that will help you to start looking at things differently. Living in peace, instead of always going to pieces, is easier when you learn to respond to God immediately. Don’t hesitate. Don’t negotiate. Don’t rationalise. And whatever you do, don’t run. The only thing that’s worse than running away from God is living with the painful aftermath. Your disobedience can take you all the way to the bottom. If you doubt that, stop and read the story of Jonah. The prophet Samuel said, ‘To obey is better than sacrifice...’ (1 Samuel 15:22 NIV) The truth is, sometimes you’ll have to sacrifice certain things in order to obey God. But it’s better to do that than to ignore His voice, live stressed out, forfeit [lose] His blessing, and end up getting nowhere. Sometimes God will require things of you that He doesn’t seem to require of others, that He won’t explain and you can’t understand, and that when you’ve obeyed them, you won’t immediately see the benefits. But if you’re convinced that He loves you and has a plan for your life, you’ll surrender to Him in trust, knowing that in the end it will ‘go well with [you].’