Our area of town has been under construction all summer, and the new road annoyed me before I even saw it. I’m sick of the noise and frustrated by the obstacle course of cones and rerouting that I have to take every time I leave the house.
But then I tried it.
Well, to be honest, at first I went the same way I always do, resentment already bubbling underneath as I anticipated the barricades and one-way markers. And then, about 150 feet later, I remembered and hit the brake.
I checked; no one was behind me. So I reversed the entire way back, turned around in my driveway, and went the other direction to try the new road.
And, oh my gosh. It’s gorgeous.
This is a good time to tell you that, like many of you, I am averse to change.
I like patterns and routines; I don’t like surprises; I want to know the gender of the baby every time and I like to shake presents under the tree weeks before Christmas.
But our lives are full of change. We often need new patterns and routines, and sometimes our alignment needs adjusted.
Our natures writhe when our lives are misaligned with our beliefs. So if there is writhing, it’s a good indicator that change needs to be made. God calls us to live out our convictions, whatever they are.
So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
– Matthew 7:17-20
If you feel strongly about something, it is important to live in alignment with that belief rather than succumb to pressure, popularity, convenience, or pride.
We have confused virtue signaling for righteousness, and we have put fear of man on a pedestal, making approval from others an idol. Whenever Jesus corrected people, He had more to say to the hypocrites than anyone else.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
– Matthew 7:21-23
The trick is, there are some things where He doesn’t give a blanket rule. There are blanket rules, of course – refer to the Ten Commandments, as a starter – but there are other things He convicts us about personally that apply to us, in a certain season, for certain reasons.
For me, one of those convictions in this season is this: I cannot keep using and supporting Facebook and Instagram because they oppose free speech, information on health, religious freedom, election integrity, and so many other issues. God called me to leave those venues. I’ve never “taken a break” from them before and this is not a break; I closed and deleted my accounts.
And it was hard. I was torn about it for a lot of reasons. I hate to lose contact with so many people. It’s not convenient to miss out on the updates, the local weather and traffic reports, the small group notifications and such. It doesn’t make sense from a business or ministry standpoint – although, on the other hand, I’ve been censored and shadowbanned so much that it makes perfect sense. (If you think shadowbanning is just conspiracy theory, bless your heart.)
I’m not telling you this because I think God has called everyone to leave Facebook. Maybe He has, but I don’t know that. I’m also not telling you this for anyone’s approval or applause; I am beyond caring about the number of hits on the “like” button and I don’t care if you don’t like or agree with my reasons. I’m telling you this because He’s called me to leave that venue, for those reasons.
But I’m also telling you this because God has probably also called you to obey in some big area — maybe not to leave Facebook, but to some other hard step of obedience.
Because here’s the thing: Obedience is hard, but it’s a no brainer.
Obedience is messy but it’s the right thing to do. We can’t control the outcomes, but it’s the right thing to do. We don’t always understand all the reasons God tells us to do something, and we can’t always make others understand our reasons, but it’s the right thing to do. We can’t guarantee that we’ll even do our part in the best way without somehow messing up or offending someone…but it’s still the right thing to do.
There will be change and noise and inconvenient rerouting. Yes, obedience is hard, but when God has been clear, it’s a no brainer.
There is always reward on the other side of obedience. But there is always loss on the other side of disobedience.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
– Matthew 7:24-27
The decision and direction is ours. We can keep butting into the same traffic barriers and keep complaining about the circumstances, or we can go the other way and see what He has called us to. Once stubbornness is put aside, it’s a pretty easy choice.
That new road has gentle curves edged in green, sloping lawns (probably created using enough GMO seed to sink a ship, but I digress). I turned south to approach the highway and the sun was setting after the rain had fallen all day, and right there was the biggest rainbow I’ve ever seen in my life.
All the way from one side to the other, so big and so close that my camera couldn’t catch it all in one frame. I parked in the middle of the road to take the photos – I checked again; no one was behind me. The photos never do it justice, though. I can’t show you, but you know what it is. It’s overwhelming in the best of ways.
I turned onto the highway and drove right toward the middle of the rainbow.
God, does it mean something? I asked. Because it has to mean something. The color, light, and shadow; the brightness after a deluge of rain.
Yeah, Love. It always means something, He said.
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Related: Need more on obedience? We’ve written a whole book on it. ABIDE volume 5 is called Obedience to Move Forward and you can order it here.
