I’ve been tempted lately to change the name of this blog to Have You Ever. I’m noticing that I have a tendency to start some of my posts with Have you ever… and it takes real effort not to. Today I was able to avoid it by leading in with those last two sentences, but I do have a question for you: Have you ever had God land something in your brain that you just knew you had to write down so you wouldn’t forget?
I was in town running some errands when I started an inner dialogue. Okay, I was talking to myself. I was trying to sort out why I continue writing this blog, what my goal is for turning it into a YouTube channel, I was partially scolding myself for the continued delay with the book I started writing, and I was definitely a bit grr with trying to figure out what I might decide to do with my other two children’s books that are ready to be published. And even though I was feeling a bit sarcastic and being especially hard on myself, the answers I was giving myself were mostly sincere (that was more than likely God’s voice trying to calm me down). And one response in particular stuck out to me.
One act of obedience can change a person’s life.
As soon as those words played across my mind, I realized that it was meant to be a reminder and a comfort. As I mulled it over the rest of the day, I realized that one simple act of obedience, big or small, can grow into something we could never imagine. I also realized that it wasn’t just referring to my obedience.
I firmly believe that God put it in my heart to start and continue this blog. It wasn’t because I had it all together and my life certainly wasn’t picture perfect (still isn’t). At the time that I started building this website, I was experiencing complete freedom from addiction for only less than a month. I was four months free when I started publishing my posts. I felt an urgency to share how God’s grace and goodness had manifested in my life. I wanted the whole world to know that my chains were gone, and it was wholly because of God!
But even one act of obedience can be tough. God didn’t want the blog to simply be a brief announcement of what He can do in a person’s life, but I believe He wanted me to share the continued healing after the freedom I was given from addiction. And that continued healing only came about through growing my relationship with Him. It was only able to happen because I chose to press in and allow Him to reveal Himself to me. It was greatly helped along because of the obedience of others.
I can’t count the number of times that something had been sitting on my heart, and it was confirmed because someone else brought it up in a conversation or discussion. Sometimes it was simply a post shared by a fellow blogger that I happened to see. Other times it was a sermon or podcast that spoke directly to what God was pointing me towards. All because of the obedience of others. But acts of obedience aren’t just found in pastors, bloggers, or group discussions.
I have a beautiful friend who sends me encouragement from time to time. I won’t even realize how discouraged I feel and then I’ll receive a text about how blessed she is because of something I wrote, how it hit so close to home with something she’s struggling with, or how she had heard someone preach at her church on the same topic. It’s messages and moments like those that keep this blog going. It definitely helps to know that someone is being impacted by some of my posts.
I believe that this is something that someone needs to hear. I know that when it landed in the dialogue I was having with myself, I had to take a minute to digest it. One act of obedience can change a person’s life. It may be your own life that’s changed… it might be the life of one of your friends. Your obedience might even be what changes the life of a complete stranger. It can be as simple as sharing a scripture on social media or saying hello to a stranger you pass at the store.
What kind of faith-based blogger would I be if I didn’t point out the obvious connection to Jesus? It’s because of His obedience that we have a restored relationship with God! We have access and acceptance because Jesus obeyed the will of God. Mere words aren’t adequate to describe what was done for us through Jesus’ act of obedience (Romans 5:19).
What if Jesus had refused the cross? Where would we be then? His act of obedience was no small thing. His one act of obedience changed the entire world for all time! His act of obedience is what started the ripple that we’re still feeling the effects of today.
Just one act of obedience can change a life. It can change a life. But we still have a choice to make. Jesus died on the cross, one infinitely huge act of obedience, but we have to allow it to change us. I had to allow what Jesus did to change me – to set me free from the bonds of addiction. Have you made that choice? That can be your first act of obedience. It will change your life and set you on your way to help change the life of someone else for the better.
What started out as a snarky conversation with myself actually left me feeling a bit more inspired. God’s message to me that day encouraged me to keep pressing into a deeper relationship with Him but also revealed that I need to pay attention to other areas that He would have me step out in obedience.
I want to challenge you to pay closer attention to where God might be asking you step out in obedience. Maybe it’s something as simple as noticing people that you would normally just walk by without a second thought. Perhaps to let someone know that you appreciate something they’ve said or done. It might even be as simple as praying for someone that comes to mind.
All it takes is one act of obedience to change someone’s life.
