Earlier this year I got woke up in the middle of the night. Feelings of terror rushed through my body and irrational thoughts invaded my mind. As my heart began beating faster, I turned on my light and began to pray. This began a season that would last the next few months of my life.
I began waking up 10-15 times throughout the night along with battling fear. Although I knew these fears were a lie, they felt so real. After about two months of this nightly battle, God revealed to me an area of my life that I had not fully surrendered to Him. A door that the enemy was using to steal my rest.
The problem was, I never saw this area of my life as bad. In fact, I could put together a logical list of why it made no sense for me to surrender this area to God. But the longer I waited, the worse my nights got. Eventually I gave in and obeyed God. And immediately my sleep got better.
This experience taught me that delayed obedience is still disobedience.
And disobedience is the substitute for obedience. It looks beautiful. It promises pleasure. And it guarantees new experiences. You can have it. How much will it cost you?
Maybe everything.
If we go back to the Garden of Eden and look at the fall of man we can see this same deception at work. The Bible says in Genesis 3:6, “She [Eve] saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her.”
Author and communicator, John Bevere says “It wasn’t the evil side of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Eve was attracted to. It was the good side.”
There is an appearance of good in almost every opportunity for disobedience. But this good is not God and it’s not without consequence.
Time and time again we see through scriptures where obedience brought blessings and disobedience brought troubles. But the book of Romans boils down the concept very simply.
Romans 5:19 says, “Because one person [Adam] disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person [Jesus] obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
The bottom line is that disobedience brings death, while obedience brings life.
What’s at stake here? Your peace, your joy, your rest, and ultimately your future. Many people have lost a promise that God gave them because of disobedience.
- Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden.
- Lot’s wife died leaving Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Moses never stepped foot in the promised land.
- Saul lost God’s favor permanently.
So yea, there is a substitute for obedience. But it will cost you everything and leave you with nothing.
