When Obedience Means Letting Go

As any good southern girl knows, obedience to authorities is non-negotiable. I was raised to say “yes ma’am” and “yes sir” and to obey without question. Often our view of God is tied to our view of our parents. And although I had a good relationship with my parents, I often viewed God as an old man in heaven who I was instructed to obey blindly, cowering even in His presence. I believed that if I did the “right thing” and said the “right things” that God would be pleased with me. After all, wasn’t obedience just behaving correctly? It wasn’t until I was in high school when the Lord began to teach me that although He does desire obedience, He doesn’t just want us to change our behavior to appease Him. He wanted my heart’s desire to be to obey Him because I love Him and wanted to please Him. As an adult, I’m still learning what obedience to God looks like. I know now that it’s never a blind obedience. His Word clearly tells me what I am to do, and it often shares the why behind it. My obedience to Him should flow out of my love for Him.

1 John 5:3

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

This past fall, God asked an obedience of me that I hadn’t known before. What happens when God asks us to lay aside even something good in order to be obedient? For more than 20 years I was a leader in my industry. Teaching and training other women to excel in business was something that I truly love to do. But over the past 18 months, I could feel the Lord saying, “Let it go.” I questioned Him, “Why, Lord? Have I done something wrong? Have I led them astray? Haven’t I used this platform to share Your Name and Your love with others?” Surely I misheard Him. His answer remained the same. “Let it go.” I fought Him. I tried to do it my own way. This little southern girl was determined to not obey. “But, Father,” I said. “Can’t I just hold on to this one thing? What will happen to my reputation, our income, the success I’ve built?” I don’t know about you, but I heard a lot of “me, my and mine” in those excuses. It wasn’t until I surrendered my plans to the Lord that I began to feel His peace. He assured me that His ways are always better. And the plans I had for my life long ago did not line up with the plans He has for me now. Although the position I held wasn’t a bad one, or a sinful one, it was still something that He needed me to surrender. He needs to be Lord over every aspect of my life, including this one that I thought I controlled.

As I began the process of surrendering this position, another opportunity for obedience came up. My daughter began having some medical issues, and like any good mom, we did all the tests, took all the medicines, and saw all the specialists. Still, she wasn't getting better. “Why, Lord?” I begged. I thought I was being obedient but then it felt like the rug was being pulled out from under my feet. I cried and pleaded. And again I heard Him say, “Let it go.” Well, that seemed like the last straw. I mean, I would gladly turn over my career but to turn over my daughter? No, I had to keep trying to find a solution. I had to keep doing research and finding new medicines and trying new treatments. After the end of a very trying season, I decided to stop fighting. I sat on the floor of my home just weeping and laid it all at the foot of the cross. I let go. And I so clearly heard Jesus whisper, “I’m doing something new, child. You just had to release the old first.” It reminded me of the passage in Isaiah 43:

Isaiah 43:19

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

When I finally stopped spinning all my plates and released the death grip I had on my life, I didn’t hear angels singing or feel a weight lifted off. I just felt peaceful that a new thing truly is coming. He is leading me to be obedient in a way I haven’t been challenged in before. Instead of doing the “right thing,” this time my obedience is in stopping something “good” in order to make room for God’s best. God sees the front of the tapestry of our lives when we are all mixed up in the back of the threads. He knows the whole cinema of our lives instead of the frame in time we see now. He can handle our questions, our frustrations, our doubts, but when all is said and done, He asks for our obedience – in spite of our feelings.

Obeying Him is not always easy. It doesn’t always make sense at the time. He can’t do a new thing in us if we are desperately holding on to the old. I don’t want to settle for something that might be good and miss God’s best! Won’t you let go with me? Is there something that you have been holding on to that is hindering your obedience to the Lord? It could be a job title or position. It could be another’s opinion of you. Maybe it’s an old habit, bitterness towards a situation or person, or a lie we have believed from the enemy. Or maybe, like me, it’s a false sense of control. Let go, sister. Let’s walk in obedience together.

Prayer Points:

~Father, teach me to let go and trust that You are good, and obeying You is always best.

~Lord, don’t let me hold on to anything too tightly - even my family, my health, my home, my job or anything else that I feel are “mine.” Teach me to see everything as on loan from You and to trust You to sustain it all.

~God, give me peace that passes all understanding as I rest in Your perfect plan for me.

Abba Father, You are always good. You are always perfect. And Your will is always best. You never ask me to do anything that would not be in my best interest, and ultimately for Your glory. Give me a heart that desires to be in the center of Your will, and give me the strength to love You first with all that I have. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.

Dori Franklin

Flourish Women’s Ministry