The Obedience-Driven Life

No matter what path you’re on, sometimes you might find it hard to keep walking when you don’t see the end in sight. That was me this morning. But then, Brenda Anderson’s blog post arrived in my inbox.

I’m so grateful for her encouraging post. Brenda, thank you for being my guest blogger today.

THE OBEDIENCE-DRIVEN LIFE
by Brenda Anderson

It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:7 (NLT)

A few months back I was chatting with a friend about my most recent manuscript. This friend has been a courageous first reader since the awful first draft of my first novel. One thing I love about her is that she’s so very honest, and she always gets me to think out of the box.

As we were talking about my “career,” we slid into talk of life purpose, and she asked the question, “Do any of us ever really know God’s purpose for our life?”

Do we?

How do we know that God didn’t place us here to give that smile to the clerk who’s having a lousy day, and maybe that smile stopped them from doing something drastic?

Or maybe we’re here to help our neighbor shovel their driveway, and that simple act of kindness shows them God’s light.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines purpose as: “Something set up as an object or end to be attained.”

As an author, my obvious question is, “Is publication that “end to be attained”? I seriously doubt it. Perhaps God will use publication for another purpose, but publication in and of itself is not purpose, rather, it’s a goal. Does a writer ever really know what the purpose of publication is? Do they know who God wants to touch with their words? Maybe, to a degree, as authors often receive correspondence expressing how their book touched someone. Or maybe it’s more than that. Probably is.  And what about the author who’s never published? What is their purpose? Perhaps they’ll never know.

What about the stay-at-home mom? The janitor? The businessman? Or maybe it’s not the career that has the most impact. Chances are we won’t know our ultimate purpose until we’re face-to-face with God. So, if we don’t really know our purpose, our reason for being here on earth, then how do we set goals? For the next minute … day … year? How do we motivate ourselves to move on when life looks purposeless?

That’s where obedience comes in.

Did building a massive boat on dry land make sense to Noah? Probably not, but he was obedient and built that boat.

Did Abraham lament God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac? Of course! Yet, he was obedient.

Do I know why God wants me to write? No, but I do know He’s led me to write, and write about not-so-easy topics. Little has come easily on this journey, and it’s easy to question whether I’m on the right path, a path that’s often rock-strewn, mountainous, dark, and curvy. But, as tough as is to stay on the path, as pointless as this journey seems at times, I’m going to keep on writing. I’m being obedient to His call.

And that’s my goal, my prayer every morning. Lord, help me to listen … hear … trust … submit … surrender. Obey.

Perhaps obedience is our ultimate purpose.
~~~
Whenever I think about obedience, a song comes to mind. It’s an older song, one my college madrigal group performed years ago, yet these words have stuck with me all these years. When I lack direction in life, these lyrics become my prayer:

HERE AM I, SEND ME
words and music by John Purifoy

Here am I, send me.
Here am I, Lord, send me.
Unto thee, willingly, yielded I come.
Show the path that I must walk,
Compel me then to go,
And if I stray, bring back the light of day.
For here am I, send me I pray.

Send me to be what’s created in me.
Formed in your image, I stand.
Turn my weakness into your power,
Pow’r to be at last all I’m able to be.

Here am I, send me.
Here am I, Lord, send me.
Precious Holy Spirit, come, fill me anew.
Give me wisdom, send me strength,
Grant that I may be a mirror of your never-ending love,
For here am I, send me I pray.

Send me to be what’s created in me.
Formed in your image, I stand.
Turn my weakness into your power,
Pow’r to be at last all I’m able to be.
And if I stray, bring back the light of day,
For here am I, send me I pray.

Here’s a little bit about Brenda:
Brenda Anderson graduated from Concordia University in St. Paul with a B.A. in Literature/Communications. She writes Contemporary, Women’s Fiction, and Contemporary Romance and has completed six full-length novels. In 2012, her contemporary romance, HEARTS AT RISK, was a Finalist in the contemporary romance category of the ACFW Genesis contest, and her women’s fiction novel, PIECES OF GRANITE, was a semi-finalist in the Genesis contest. She is a member of the ACFW, is Treasurer for the ACFW-Minnesota Chapter (MN-NICE), and is a member of the Minnesota Christian Writer’s Guild. She is a regular contributor to the blog InkspirationalMessages.com. Brenda and her husband live in Minneapolis, Minnesota with their three children and one sassy cat.
Website: http://brendaandersonbooks.com/
Blog: http://inkspirationalmessages.com/
Personal Blog: http://brendaandersonbooks.com/blog/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brendabanderson/