Why is Obedience so Difficult?

Sometimes when God is working on our hearts and speaking to us, we hear it through songs and messages. Lately, when I’ve watched Crazy Faith by Michale Todd and read the bible, the message has been clear. “Be patient, don’t rush things, and wait in expectation.” That has been his message to me the last several years. Being patient hasn’t been easy for someone like me who loves to charge ahead and get things done. It hasn’t been easy waiting in expectation, especially when things show up in my life and I think “maybe this is it” and only after some pain and heartache I realize, nope, it wasn’t.

But what I’ve been learning through my own life and as I’m reading through Genesis, is that when we do things our own way, instead of waiting on God, we create problems that take us off the original path he had for us. Why is patience and obedience so difficult?

I think the Bible is just one big story, linked by smaller stories, of our rebellion and God’s continued love and wooing us back. Even though Abraham literally heard from God who promised to make his descendants into a great nation, he still gave his wife away to kings and people (more than once) by saying she was his sister. Which was actually a half-truth, but not God’s plan. I’m sure Abraham knew the consequences when he asked Sarah “Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.” (Genesis 12:13)

She was given to the king as his wife. No one ever talks about the experience and pain she had to endure at the request of her husband. Why didn’t Abraham run to God first to protect himself and Sarah? Why did he take things into his own hands? Plain and simple: fear.

Isaac did the same thing with his wife Rebeka. He said she was his sister, but God intervened and protected Rebekah. Why were these men so fearful after all God did and promised them? Why was patience and obedience so difficult for those who knew and heard God?

All the kings seemed to fear Abraham and Isaac’s God so much so that they wanted peace and to send Abraham on his way with more wealth than he arrived. Sometimes it seemed like the pagans had more faith in God keeping his word than his followers.

You would think after two times of giving Sarah away, Abraham would learn his lesson. But no, he got impatient waiting for the promised child and listened to his wife’s fear about not having a child. But that child created a whole bunch of problems (even to this day) that might not have happened if Abraham had just been patient. Don’t we do the same things in our lives? Aren’t we impatient and disobedient waiting on God to show up in our lives like we expect him to?

Now I fully believe God is able to get us back on the path towards his will for our lives, but it always ends up taking longer when we go astray. I also believe that some of us have to go astray and through the suffering and pain to understand that is not the path we want to take. In fact, as I’m reading through Genesis, it seems the entire message is about man getting impatient and afraid, so he does things his own way. But God’s grace always shines through in the end. God’s mercy always prevails. It’s our stubbornness, impatience, fear, and pride that make it harder for ourselves.