28.08 | The Deeper Obedience
Acts 21:1-26
‘And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.’
Acts 21:4
I don’t understand.
I’ve prayed this prayer many times. I’ve prayed this prayer when relationships have been difficult or finances seem impossible, or when health has been battered or when I’ve stood at a graveside. I’ve prayed it when friends have left and when my daily work has felt far removed from my deeper sense of vocation. I’ve prayed this when the path before my feet leads through valleys of shadow, rather than through green pastures. I’ve prayed this when obedience has led not to plenty, but to pain.
We’re entering the final movement now of the Acts story. The Acts story, at this stage, has focused in on the life and ministry of Paul. He senses he is in his final movement too, in a journey that will lead him to Rome. Rome, the epicentre of the Empire; Rome, the seat of the Caesars; Rome, the place where all the powers and fallen culture of the earth found their ultimate source.
It sounds impressive. Strategic. Bold. It sounds like a testimony of glory waiting to happen. It sounds like Paul is ready to establish Paul International Ministries in the world’s capital city—a story of affluence and influence demonstrating the inbreaking reign of the only true King.
And yet, person after person hears the Spirit warning of what will happen there.
Paul will be put in chains. Paul will suffer. Paul will die.
The disciples at Tyre say it. The prophesying daughters of Philip say it. The prophet Agabus says it. Even Luke, writing these words, says it.
And all of them give Paul the same advice.
Don’t go.
If this path leads to chains, they say, do not walk it.
If this path leads to suffering, they say, it cannot be of God.
If this path leads to death, they say, we don’t understand.
I have heard so many stories of where obedience led a person to fruitfulness and impact. I have seen His hand in my own life, working obedience into fruitfulness, in those many testimonies of provision and healing and clarity and encouragement and life and beauty and wholeness.
I have seen these stories, and I understand.
And yet, there are also true moments in our life, when the lead of the Spirit takes us not into the things that look like success in the eyes of the world, but rather, look like chains and suffering and death. When He leads to a wilderness. When He leads to obscurity. When He leads through sickness. When He leads to a cross.
In such moments, it is so easy to be an Agabus prophet; hearing correctly the predictions of the Spirit, and yet misunderstanding His deeper purposes. It is easy in such moments to view pain as evidence that we have stepped outside of the purposes of God, and assuming our discomfort to be proof of our errors.
And yet, my friends, there truly are moments when the Spirit of the living God is inviting us to the deeper obedience. That hears the predictions of sufferings, and yet that also understand the deeper call. That feels the discomfort of those heavy chains, and yet puts confidence in the untouchable freedom within and before. That endures the tears of suffering, and yet learns to yield. It is the kind of obedience that can look death itself in the face, and see it, not as a battle lost, but as the gateway to the greater glory.
Do you find yourself in a moment where past obedience has seemingly led you to a place of present pain? Dear friends, take heart: you have not been abandoned, and you are never forgotten. If obedience brought you here, then obedience will lead you onwards.
The path of the deeper obedience is well trod. It has been trod by the saints. It was trod by your Saviour. And all will testify, in the glory of the coming days, that the deeper obedience always leads to the greater glory.
Reflect:
Do you resonate with this experience, of sensing God’s lead into a difficult situation?
Hold this before Him, including your present challenges. The process is to yield: to surrender afresh to His will, His way, His timing. Glory always awaits.
Pray:
Father,
Sometimes I realise in myself,
That my expectation
Was that you would make my life more
Comfortable.
And yet, Father,
Here we are:
Uncomfortable, again.
Even when I find myself most clearly in my gifting,
And most apparently in the centre of your will,
Even here, Father,
Difficulties seem to abound.
And yet,
My Father,
Today, I yield:
I yield my entitlement to the comfortable life,
In favour of the greater obedience;
I yield my script for the successful life,
In favour of the greater story;
I yield my assumptions of temporary reward,
In favour of the magnificence of glories awaiting.
I choose the deeper obedience.
And in this place,
My Father—
For it feels vulnerable—
Testify greatly within me of your love,
That I may know that I am
Never forsaken,
Never forgotten,
Never abandoned,
Never alone.
That this way may journey deeper into in your heart,
And ever towards
The deeper glory.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
Job 18-19 | Psalm 104:24-35
Amen