This morning during my quiet time, I was listening to an instrumental track of the hymn “Trust and Obey”, written by John Sammis and Daniel Towner. As I listened to it, the chorus kept replaying in my mind, “Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

It occurred to me then that there are two simple questions I need to regularly ask myself. ‘Am I trusting God?’ ‘Am I obeying God?’ If I’m losing my happiness and joy in Christ, then it is highly likely that my answer to either or both of those questions is not a confident yes. Probably both in most cases, seeing as they are interlinked. Obedience requires trust, and the proof of trust is obedience. We trust in God, His Word, His Will, His Promises. We obey God, His Word, His Will, and the conditions attached to His Promises.

Obedience is the evidence of our love for God. As Jesus said in John 14:21 (NLT), “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” It is also the evidence of our belonging to the family of Jesus. “Jesus replied, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.” (Luke 8:21, NLT). Obedience needs to be complete and continuous, not partial or dependent on circumstances. Otherwise, once the devil knows the circumstances that will edge us towards disobedience, you can be certain that he will litter our Christian walk with many of such circumstances. Psalm 119:4 (NIV) says “You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.” We can’t do eye-service obedience with God, because He is El-Roi, He sees everything  and everyone! (Hebrews 4:13, Proverbs 15:3, Jeremiah 23:24). Even thoughts are to be captured and made to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Trust is the evidence of our Faith in God. E.M. Bounds notes that “Trust is faith that has become absolute, approved, and accomplished. When all is said and done, there is a sort of risk in faith and its exercise. But trust is firm belief; it is faith in full bloom.” We cannot please God if we don’t trust Him or have faith in Him. Hebrews 11:6 (BSB) says “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” If we lack trust, if we doubt God, we are likened to “a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind. For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides].” James 1:6b-8 (AMP). It is always worth remembering that we are trusting a Father who loves us so much, and who has wonderful thoughts and plans for us, plans to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Proverbs 3:5-6 (CEV) says “With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment. Always let Him lead you, and He will clear the road for you to follow.” Wouldn’t it be so beautiful to have a clear road to follow in life, instead of getting lost multiple times and having to reroute again and again? And from the words of the hymn, wouldn’t it be magnificent to have God’s glory shed on our way, as we walk with Him in the light of His Word?

Will this road be easy though? Mary Mary once sang, “Nobody told me the road would be easy, and I don’t believe He’s brought me this far to leave me.” Alas, obeying and trusting God don’t necessarily come with a guarantee of ease. In fact, trusting and obeying God completely may sometimes stretch us to the point where we feel like ‘one more stretch, and it will be a snap instead’. However, as Thomas Fuller said, “All things are difficult before they are easy.” Little consistent steps of obedience and trust can cover large grounds over time. Today, I would like to gently encourage us to carry out this exercise: Think of one or two areas where you are struggling to trust God or to obey what He asks. Think of one or two actions linked to each of those areas that you can undertake today. Then do them. Remember that one step taken puts you one step ahead of the starting block. Don’t stop there though. Keep doing those actions. Consistently. Day in day out. For as long as required. Remain humble and dependent on God, and He will give you the grace you need to persevere (James 4:6). Even if you fail some days, remember that His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Then, in three months, in six months, in one year, look back and reflect on your progress in that area over time. The results and the change you see may surprise you. Bertrand Russell once said that “the chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” While the context for this quote is somewhat different, in a way, it still applies here. The more we work towards forming a habit of trusting and obeying God, the harder it will be to break that habit over time.

I pray that as we continue this journey of trust and obedience, our habit of trusting and obeying God will become too heavy to be broken by any person or circumstance, no matter how challenging or threatening they are. When circumstances try to steal our joy in Jesus, may we remember that the way to protect our joy from theft is to trust and obey God. When we are worn out and drained, may we remember that on this journey, as Hebrews 4:16 encourages, we can come boldly to the throne of our gracious God and receive mercy and grace to help, strengthen, refuel us. Beloved, keep trusting, keep obeying, for the God who has asked us to do so is ever loving, ever present, ever faithful, ever sure.

Image source here. Artist: Peter Millward.