Obedience in the Heart of a Warrior
I tasted Life the past few weeks and treasure these bits of uncovered mystery with my whole heart.
My Jesus does not toy with or taunt me with fruitless games of hide and seek. Needless to say, He has honored my ceaseless request to develop the warrior within me. While I am not fully fledged or anything so dramatic, a deeper understanding of the ways of God has sprouted in my heart, the seed of which should have been obvious to me.
Submission is a humbling experience, but not all humblings are an evil I think because obedience, I found, is the path to Life. The peace, joy, and quiet authority I’ve been searching for begin here. I discovered this by analyzing the great leaders of ancient Israel, specifically King David, a man who God Himself named A man after My own heart. Friends, when He says something like this, PAY ATTENTION because despite David’s flaws and mistakes, the man is on to something. I quickly realized without first dedicating myself to following my request through with obedience, I would go nowhere.
One recurring pattern I see in David is his devotion to following the commands of God to the letter, not halfway nor solely when he feels like it. When faced with an enemy, he always seeks God’s counsel first, and God always honors his faith by answering. Whatever God says to do, David accomplishes it exactly when He says to do it.
Faith is humble expectation. David expects God to answer, not out of any sort of arrogant demand as though he could order God around, but because David understands the character of God in His love for His people and willingness to reveal Himself in the lives of those who devote themselves to Him with their whole heart, which is exactly who David is.
Then, after defeating his enemies, David always ransacks the land, cities, etc., and purposes to completely destroy with fire symbols of devotion to foreign gods found in altars, idols, and the like. This behavior made me think...is there anything in my life I am a die-hard fan of that puts my faith to sleep? I have never believed it necessary to eschew everything that does not say Jesus every other word (I mean, I’m listening to 80s music right now as I write this; not exactly “spiritual”). However, it is alarmingly easy to devote so much of my time and mental energy into what I enjoy to the point where He becomes an afterthought and the warrior within begins to doze.
The Bible is my guide as He hones my intuition with wisdom and understanding of what is right per situation. And you know what? I have begun to see a side of myself I didn’t know I had. Google defines “Bold” as showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous. Think of Aragorn again. These attributes describe him perfectly, and yet notice how overbearing does not make the list. Whenever I try to be a warrior for God without humbly submitting myself to His authority, I am either one of two persons: cringy and ridiculous or arrogant and judgmental. Neither reflects His character.
But with His help, boldness wants to make an earthbender out of me. I’ve seen glimmers of it. Still deeply human, capable of warmth and empathy, yet solid, connected with the world around me. My head is less inclined to be up in the clouds when it shouldn’t be, nor does chaos always overpower me. I’m learning to bring peace with me where I go rather than depending on others to cultivate it in my environment.
Dear Friends, all you have to do to step onto the road I am on is
Ask. Seek. Knock.
He’ll open the door. I promise.
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