Why is the right thing always the hardest thing to do? That’s what I asked my friend today. I had to make the right choice, but it was also the most difficult choice and one I had been running from.

There will be times in your walk with the Lord when he speaks to you, and you feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit to let go of something or perhaps to take something up. We don’t always fall into line. Sometimes we ignore the voice or the urging because we don’t want to hear the message, we don’t like it, or we don’t agree with it. Times when our will is very different from the Lord’s will which has been made clear in scripture and through the Holy Spirit.  I know, I know, you want to say that you would never ignore God, but let’s be honest with ourselves, all of us have. We have ignored not only as believers.  We learned it as children, not wanting to hear what our parents have to say to us or as adults at work pretending, we didn’t hear something our boss said or maybe lost the email.  We do this with God also. With the God of the entire universe we stand there with our fingers in our ears saying I can’t hear you. Shutting off our hearts and minds to what he is so clearly telling us. He must laugh at the ridiculousness of humans. At the audacity of mankind, that when we can so clearly hear him, we so willfully choose to ignore him. 

Is it really hearing if you don’t receive the message and respond? Perhaps that’s why there’s a difference between hearing and listening. If I hear I receive the sound but if I listen, then I respond to that sound. So, what is required of us is more than hearing a message from the Lord or feeling a prompting from the Holy Spirit. We are not required to hear only; we are required to listen and do. 

In James 1 scripture declares “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

So how does the Lord know that we are listening to him? It’s simple, he looks at our actions to see if we’re doing what he’s told us to do, if we are responding to the message that he’s given us and making moves through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our actions show we are listening.

I understand that most of the time the things that God requires don’t feel difficult and so listening and doing is easy. But there are times, times like I experienced today when the right thing to do, that thing I know that God wants me to do, that his word is in alignment with is not easy. No, it’s the hardest thing to do but it is what must be done. So, I finally did it. After fighting with God for months and trying it my way I submitted at last. 

The amazing thing about God is he gives us grace. He waits for us patiently to let go of our own will and our own way and to choose to submit to him. This path we’re on is a narrow one. It’s not easy to follow Christ. Some of the things he requires will require you to sacrifice. Perhaps sacrifice things that you think you need or desperately want. Sometimes he requires us to serve him by selflessly serving others. Sometimes he requires us to boldly share his truth even in the face of rejection from those around us because they don’t see the point and they don’t understand. Being a disciple of Christ, being a true Christ follower means not just hearing the word of God, not just hearing and being sensitive to the spirit of God inside of you, but above all else it requires you to obey and follow Christ. You must do what God requires of you even when it’s not something you want to do. Even when it is a hard thing to do. 

Now I know you probably wish you were reading a devotion written from someone who would tell you that God is never going to ask you to sacrifice, that all the things that he’ll require will be easy but I’m not going to lie to you. What I’m going to tell you is that God is a patient God. He’ll gently urge you and remind you in many ways and all the while just waiting for you to choose to obey. He doesn’t tell you how foolish you are because you don’t want to listen, he probably even understands the reasons for the way you want things, but we have to understand that his foresight is greater than ours. He wouldn’t ask it or require it of us if it wasn’t for our benefit. Some things don’t feel good in the short term, but our relationship with God is the long game.

So, I challenge you today, maybe there’s something you’re ignoring. Maybe you like me have stood there with your fingers in your ears pretending you can’t hear, when the truth is you just don’t want to listen. Purpose in your heart today to submit your will to God, to do the hard thing. He’s not waiting to condemn you or say I told you so, no matter how long it took you to listen. Instead, he’s there to receive you with full acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and love. He’s there to comfort you and give you the strength to follow through when you lack it inside of yourself. Isn’t our God amazing! There really is no one like him. I am so thankful for not only an amazingly faithful God, but an extremely patient one, especially when the right thing is the hardest thing to do.