What My Obedience to God Costs Other People

The title of this blog is actually a title to a devotion that I read last week from my daily devotion entitled “My Utmost For His Highest” written by Oswald Chambers. 

The first paragraph reads:

If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in.  If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal.  If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset.

Later in the devotion it reads:

We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but we shall be a grief to our Lord.  Whereas, if we obey God, He will look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of our obedience.  We have simply to obey and to leave all consequences with Him.

Last year the Lord called me to serve in a ministry, Arising to Excellence Ministry.  There was no doubt in my mind that the Lord called me to serve.  I knew that I was obedient when I moved to Texas where the ministry’s main office is located. 

I went through many changes in my life as a result of my obedience, but I delighted in them since I knew that I was doing what God called me to do.  I also realized that my obedience caused me to change my focus in life, which is to serve the ministry in the capacity that God has called me to do.  This means that my priorities have changed; things that used to interest me no longer grab my attention and my focus is being diligent to do the Lord’s work.

I never really thought about the cost of my obedience to others.  As I read the devotion, I thought about the people who have been impacted the most by my obedience: my mom and dad who have always had me living near them; my local church in NY who released me to serve in this new calling; my friends in NY who no longer have the contact with me that their accustomed to; my NY employer who agreed to a teleworker agreement which allows me to continue working for them; and the ministry in Texas. 

I will probably never know the depth of impact that my obedience has had on these people.  A part of me would like to concern myself with the impacts, but I know that in doing so, I would be disobedient, lose focus on what the Lord has called me to do and cause grief to the Lord - something that I won’t do.  I can only pray that the Lord will look after all of these people and help them process the consequences of my obedience.