**Update: I am reading this again in January of 2022, nine years later. WOW.  I am so thankful I chose obedience that day. God has blessed me tremendously. He has continued to grow me and stretch me. I went from leading an online Bible study and going to Bible College, to leading an in person Bible study, to starting this blog, to writing Bible studies, to teaching and speaking at women’s ministry events…… He sure did have big plans for me. With radicial obedience, do I dare ask, what else GOD do you have for me?

January 2013

God speaks to me every day. Someday I hope to say that I hear Him every day. My desire is to be in constant communication with my Heavenly Father and I know He desires to be in constant communication with me. However, there are times when I am not still long enough to really hear His voice or to notice those people He sends to speak into my life or the circumstances He orchestrates to get my attention.

But sometimes I am. And I hear His voice.nd still do listen.  Such was a time, years ago. As I was praying, I felt God speak to my heart, calling me closer to Him, to a new level in our relationship. He said that He had something big planned for me, but I must prepare myself and take initiative. My response was a “say what” type of response: “Is that you God? What do you mean big plan? What plan? When is this plan supposed to happen? Be prepared, how? Take initiative, how?”

Well, after more prayer, He gave me a little more clarity on the how questions, but not the what and when questions. He wanted me to dive deep into His Word and not to read anything other than His Word and other Christian writings until I read the entire Bible cover to cover. Say what? I argued, “But God I love to read fiction. I really, really was looking forward to reading that new book by my favorite author….and if I only read the Bible and books about God, Jesus and faith, when will I watch tv? God I just paid for a subscription to Amazon Prime so I could have access to even more tv shows and movies and what about that free shipping on all of my books! Really? Is that you God?” 

I obeyed God, even without knowing the answers to all of my questions before obeying. I trusted God. I call this radical obedience.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5

Eight months later I have only read the Bible and other Christian faith building books and nothing else. As a result of my obedience, my faith has grown, my knowledge has expanded, and I know God better than I ever have before. If I had chosen disobedience instead of obedience, I would have missed so much! 

As for my unanswered what and when questions, maybe just maybe God has been answering those questions all along. Maybe He asked for my obedience so that I would be ready to say yes to leading a small Facebook group in an online bible study or maybe it was so I would say yes in attending Bible School this fall. I don’t know. What I do know is that I have been blessed beyond measure over the past eight months. Eight months ago, I would have never dreamed of the possibilities that God now has set out before me.

 Paul wrote in Philippians 3:8, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” (NLT) Paul was radically obedient. He gave up everything, and He gained Christ. God asked me to give up fiction and some tv time: small, small sacrifices, but sacrifices which resulted in a walk with Christ that I never thought possible. So the next time God asks me to give up something, I would like to think that my answer would be yes, God.