devoblog: Hannah Whitten

2Josh • 18th Oct 2005 • blog entries, devoblog

Obedience

Hello! I’m Hannah, and I’ve been blessed to have had Lydia and Josh in my life (as friends, fellow students at Trinity Western University and roommates with Lydia, and as co-workers at Cascades Camp and Conference Center in Yelm, Washington) for over 17 years now. I currently reside in Auburn, Washington, and am pursuing a career in the communications field.

My name’s Hannah, and I am a Northslope blogger. I’ve been reading the ‘slope for over a year now. I eagerly downloaded every Edge. I have an e-mail address at northslope.net. In other words, when Josh asked me if I was interested in writing a devotional for the site, I happily accepted. And one of the first subjects that came to mind was the idea of patience, which Neil beat me to last week. Yet the amazing, complex beauty of the lessons and spiritual fruits that God is teaching us as Christians is that one often leads to another. Working out patience, for example, in where God is leading us and how we get there usually requires a healthy dose of something else, too. And spiritual fruit, like so much in life that’s truly worthwhile, rarely comes easily or quickly. It reminds me of an evening years ago at youth group when Bert, our youth intern at the time, stuck a marshmallow and then a potato in a microwave. The marshmallow exploded, much to our joy, in a matter of seconds. But the potato didn’t. Ever. In hindsight, I’m impressed at the great visual lesson; at the time, I just wanted to see him try it with a Peep marshmallow bunny. Thankfully, the principle of it all stuck with me. Much like a muscle or talent developed over time and through perseverance, it is the practice of obedience that leads us to strength and patience — and in turn faith in our Holy Guide — when we face the intense and trying pressures of life. And just as the spiritual muscle of patience and faith is strengthened and conditioned, not in a single moment or through a quick study, but through a lifetime of obedience, so it will not give out in the times of trials. It is the simple act of obedience itself that brings us closer to being the creatures God designed us to be. It is an act of denying ourselves and giving back our will, the self-indulgence Adam grasped at in Eden. It is a decision to do what He asks of us, whatever the outcome. It is putting our lives fully and without reservation into God’s hands. Obedience is, undeniably, an act of worship.

“…but in addition to the content [of the action], the mere obeying is also intrinsically good, for, in obeying, a rational creature consciously enacts its creaturely role, reverses the act by which we fell, treads Adam’s dance backwards, and returns.�
— C.S. Lewis, “The Problem of Painâ€?

Obedience, in the face of certainty and uncertainty alike, is what shapes us over time into the trusting, faithful children God desires us to be. As I work through this lesson in my life, in the midst of job-hunting and discerning God’s will in the next step of this journey He has given me, my prayer is that we all are able to remember that our benevolent Father asks us simply to love and obey Him. In the hectic, ever-shifting nature of life, it is a wonderful source of peace to remember the simplicity at the heart of God’s message for living a disciple’s life.

“Dear friends…we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ and to love one another as He commands us. Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: we know it by the Spirit He gave us.�
— 1 John 3:21-24