Ever do exactly what God told you to do and suddenly, it's like “Uh Oh!”, “What did I do wrong?” because it seems like everything starts to spiral or that very thing that you thought was right appears to have turned out wrong? Then all of a sudden, you’re questioning if you heard God correctly and whether you could have misunderstood what He told you to do. We think “have I fallen out of the will of God?” because this does not feel good. Let’s pause. Now we all know that when we are disobedient and fall out of the will of God it can come with consequence and chastisement. We know that we sometimes have to learn a tough lesson when we "go our own way” versus the way that God wants us to go. However, we must also realize that sometimes even when we do what God wants us to do the outcome may not look like what we thought. Yet and still, if God told us to do it, then it is working for our good (Romans 8:28 reminds us of that).

​

Obedience does not always look like a field of roses although it can feel like you’re being stuck with thorns. Sometimes even in the midst of doing right God will still test us to see just how much we love Him, trust Him, and have faith in Him. Sometimes God will see if we will continue to stand by His word and trust the path He has us on even when everything looks contrary to the master plan. Sometimes when obedience does not look like what we expected, we tend to regret that we ever did the thing we know God told us to do. Let’s be real, just as we may not have liked every chore or task our parents gave us, we don’t always like everything that God, our Father tells us to do. Especially, when it may feel like punishment.

Look at Joseph who was placed in a pit, look at Daniel who was placed in the lion’s den, look at Job a man with troubles above and beyond his own comprehension, and look at Jeremiah, all doing the will of God but yet even in their obedience experienced things that could have shaken the core of their very foundation in Christ. But one thing remains constant in all their stories, while obedience may have appeared like trouble it was really manifestation of a greater work and a greater plan that God had in store for them. And they wavered not. Most importantly, God got the victory when it was all said and done. We must truly seek God and develop relationship with Him: (1) so we can hear His voice, (2) so we can know His voice, (3) so we can discern God’s instruction vs. our will, and (4) so we can gain wisdom when faced with difficult decisions that bring about confusion of thought causing us not to be able to move as God instructs. There are many more reasons for us to nurture our relationship with God, but these are some of the key concerns that we sometimes struggle with in our daily lives as we live in a natural world in which we are constantly in battle of natural vs spiritual. It seems like flesh and spirit are always at war. Seeking God, hearing His voice and knowing His ways vs. our ways helps us to let go a little more, worry a little less, trust when He tells us to act and not to waver regardless of the outcome.

Don’t be so quick to give up thinking “I’ll never get this salvation thing right, because it seems like every time I do right it ends up wrong, so maybe I’m missing something” (remember Romans 7:21-24). And don’t be so quick to judge others when you see them going through a rough patch. Don’t automatically assume that they must have done something wrong (remember Job’s friends) it may just be that God is setting them up for the manifestation of His power to be recognized.

Remember you don’t know God’s plans for anybody so don’t judge their walk. Just because they may be going through things that look like turmoil it is not always due to their disobedience, it can simply be that maybe their obedience is being tested. Instead of judging them just pray that if they have fallen out of the will of God that God brings them back in and if they have not fallen out of the will of God and are being tested that God give them the strength to endure.
So next time you have another “Uh Oh!” moment, before you condemn yourself or others, talk to God, ask Him to lead you, guide you and open up your level of understanding to make sure that this thing that is feeling like defeat is not manifestation coming forth through your obedience.

Remember you can’t judge a book by its cover and you can’t determine obedience through appearance. God is a mysterious God. Remember: Isaiah 55:8-9 states: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”