Obedience and Availability

The plans and purposes of God are at work in our lives long before we know it. However, it is only when the Word of God which seeks us out and initiates a personal response involving our free will, that those plans begin to take form, if we agree.

When David the shepherd boy obeyed his father’s instructions to take lunch to his brothers, who were in the army defending Israel on the frontlines of battle, he didn’t realise that his innocent obedience to his father would culminate in his appointment with destiny.

As he first battled and fended off the sarcastic comments of his elder brother, little did he know that a greater threat lay ahead. Goliath, Israel’s arch enemy, came forward issuing threats against the armies and nation of Israel. David was not influenced by Goliath’s size. All he knew was that his God was bigger.  “You come to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand” (1 Samuel 17:45-46).

Righteous indignation stirred in the heart of a young man who knew his God.  The Bible declares that ‘the people who know their God shall be strong and do exploits’, and this was certainly true in David’s case. Who would have thought that the simple action of a boy taking lunch to his brothers would have had such major consequences, not only for him, but for the nation. His obedience and availability to God was all that mattered. The outcome of this young man’s faith in God culminated in Israel’s victory over its arch enemy, for God showed Himself mighty on Israel’s behalf.

Centuries later, one greater than David entered earth’s history. Jesus, the Son of God, came at His father’s behest to the rescue of mankind. He, who was and is the Bread of life, came to earth’s battlefield, bringing life and sustenance to the world. Fending off the initial verbal attacks of the enemy, his greatest challenge lay ahead. The great cosmic battle between God and Satan, good and evil, for the souls of mankind, lay in the balance. Jesus knew what evil was but was not influenced or affected by it. In utter obedience to His father’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane, He cried, “Not My will, but Thine”. In the greatest battle that would ever take place in earth’s history at the cross of Calvary, He defeated Satan, and ‘When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men’ (Ephesians 4:8).

What you’re doing in obedience to God may not seem like much to you, but keep going. The Bible encourages us to ‘despise not the day of small things’. All God requires is our obedience and availability. Moment by moment, there are many appointments with destiny taking place in our lives. So don’t be discouraged by the lies of the enemy. We may not always understand what God is doing in the present, but rest assured God has your back. You matter to God. This is your moment, and Jesus is the One who is ‘able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us’ (Ephesians 3:20).