Week 9: Experiencing God
Experiencing God Through Obedience
It’s week 9 of my online Bible study group. Here are some of the things I took away from the ninth week.
My Thoughts:
I’m opening up this week on Sabbath completing day 3 of Unit 8. Yes, I am starting to get very behind and I’m realising that if I don’t follow along the morning routine that I had set up for myself - Morning pages straight after waking up followed by Experiencing God study, then type up my thoughts in these Substack articles before checking my phone and getting on with my day - then I will not only not want to do the study, but may put it off altogether. I need to just jump right in, pray and get started on it before the cares of the day distract me away.
I always learn something from each study but the motivation to do it isn’t always there.
The main question I have currently and have had for the past lesson is, how is my obedience costly to those around me? The quote keeps coming up “obedience is costly to me and to those around me” and I’m trying to figure out how. I understand that if I’m following God, to others it may sometimes look like I’m doing something weird. Is that the cost for them? To decide if they’re going to let me continue or help in some way or not? I’m going to make sure I do day 4 tomorrow so I’m hoping I find the answers to some of these questions.
Later on my Mum came to say goodnight to me. She saw that I had my Experiencing God book opened still from this morning. She said that she was doing it also. I asked her what Unit she was on and guess what she said? 8! I asked what day she had just completed….. day 3! I was so thankful to God because I really wanted to do it with my Mum, but also to have someone who was doing the book as well was just so encouraging. I told her that I had been trying to be consistent and she informed me that she was very aware of how often I had been doing my own study.
You see, we had started it with each other sometime last year but I ended up trailing off after Unit 4 or 5 and my Mum had continued on on her own. I had assumed she had finished the course but it seems she stopped at Unit 8, day 2. Seeing me doing it this time around made her want to pick it up again. The fact that she decided to start day 3 when I was doing day 3 (even though I should have completed day 3 3 or so days ago) is absolutely amazing! It’s definitely down to God.
Today I did day 4 and my questions from yesterday were fully answered. I realised that I had already been thinking of some practical examples of this also because I had the thought of using some of my tithe to buy some Great Controversy books, wrap them in nice paper maybe with a note and post them to all my neighbours. I was thinking I haven’t made much effort to let my neighbours know about God and have heard of countless testimonies of how The Great controversy has changed so many lives and brought them to Christ. I wanted to do my part in where I am but I was thinking about how that would affect my parents. If my neighbours were angry and found out where we lived, how would that be?
The lesson today said yes, there may be negative consequences, but nothing compared to the act of disobedience. What could I and others be missing out on if I disobey God? It made me think of the example of Paul. Although those who were with Paul found themselves into bother at times from other people, seeing Him following and obeying God and preaching His Word actually inspired and led them to respond to God’s working in their own lives. Obedience can encourage others to obey. Disobedience shows just how much I lack trust in God. I need to trust that He can protect us and explain to those around me what He’s doing.
I’m reminded that the call for being a Christian isn’t one of comfort and earthly treasures. I’m a pilgrim passing through until my forever home when Jesus returns. This journey isn’t an easy one and it’s not one I can do alone. I will keep my hand in God’s hand and walk alongside Him all the way.
It’s Monday and I’ve just completed the final day of Unit 8. Today was all about waiting on God, obeying Him and praying to Him in the waiting and asking from a non selfish place.
It’s so easy to get caught up in asking for only what we want for ourselves, but it’s good to step back and ask ourselves if this is something that God wants us to be praying for in the first place, nevermind constantly and if it’s for His kingdom purpose. Yes, He knows what we want already and He wants us to ask, but I don’t want my own desires to constantly come before His and I don’t want to get upset or disappointed if what He wants to give me isn’t what I had imagined.
I’ve made it to Unit 9 now! Today I reflected and prayed Psalm 119:33-35: “Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” KJV
I know that in order to obey God, I must first know Him and love Him. I know that these two are the foundation for a beautiful relationship and something we should be actively doing as Christians each and every new day.
Day 2 had me singing a hymn for the first time in a long time (since I haven’t gone to a physical church in just over a year now since my dad left Pastoring. I’ve been on a hunt for a new church to attend). Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. That chorus is going to be stuck in my head for the remainder of my morning. It’s a perfect reminder that I know God will work everything out for my good and that His way isn’t to hurt and harm us, but to lead us into a better place. Whether we see the good results of that on earth now or in heaven when He returns, I need to trust that it’s worth it no matter what.
I also learned that delayed obedience is still disobedience, so better to obey as soon as I know what He’s asking of me rather than putting it off for whatever reason.
It’s day 3 of Unit 9 and the day that I actually feel motivated to follow God and do all I know I should be and can be. I had a lot of thought and conversation of how I can share God’s love and what I’ve been learning not only with people online (i.e. through this blog), but also with the people immediately around me. It occurred to me that I haven’t really done much witnessing around where I live and I know that needs to change. Who knows if I’m the only one where I live who has mentioned God to anyone around here?
It’s the final day of this blog post and the fourth day of Unit 9. I had a really beautiful experience with God today. I had set aside some time to do this study as I had a meeting to attend quite early that morning. The task was to spend time in prayer and praise to God which I spent time doing before getting ready to go. Once I returned from my meeting and came back to finish the study, I realised that it was already finished and was just a short session today.
I felt so happy knowing that the last thing I did before going to my meeting was spend time praising God.
✨ Nadine