One day I was pushing my grocery cart through the store when the cart suddenly halted in front of the toilet paper display. For some unknow reason, it wouldn’t budge. I fought the ridiculous urge to buy toilet paper – we had plenty at home – but finally caved when it occurred to me that maybe the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me something.
An acquaintance popped into my mind, a woman who’d recently called asking if any of my piano students might want to purchase the piano she’d inherited from her mother. I realized that Evelyn would’ve never parted with her precious heirloom unless she was forced to. Finances must be tight.
After piling my cart with staples like milk, bread, eggs, and a twelve-pack of TP, I headed to Evelyn’s house feeling a big foolish. What if my assumption of need insulted her?
Evelyn looked shocked when she answered the door to find me weighed down with grocery bags. I started unloading the items on her counter, and Evelyn burst into tears when she saw the toilet paper. She held it to her chest like a precious blessing.
“How did you know?” she asked through sobs. “We just ran out of toilet paper – and all other paper products -and I simply can’t afford more. Before you came, I was collecting old newspapers to put in the bathroom before the kids got home from school. I didn’t know what we were going to do.
“I was praying for help when you rang the doorbell.”
Whoa. What a blessing I almost missed. It’s so important for us to obey what Papa God instructs us to do even if it doesn’t make sense. Or is inconvenient. Or embarrassing.
Obedience opens the door for miracles.
Biblical examples of seemingly crazy obedience abound. Noah spent decades building a gigantic boat in the dry desert (Genesis 7). The Red Sea parted when Moses obeyed Yahweh’s directive to wave a stick in the air (Exodus 14:16-21). The enormous stone walls of Jericho crumbled when God instructed Joshua and his men to toot horns (Joshua 6:1-20). Peter walked on water when he obeyed Jesus’ beckoning (Matthew 14:25-33). Although the command must’ve seemed ludicrous, the paralyzed man scrambled to his feet in crazy obedience when Jesus said, “Get up” (Matthew 9:2-7).
Do you and I have the faith required for crazy obedience too?
Prayer: Lord, You’re the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You expected crazy obedience then and You expect it now. Please give me more faith to listen and obey. Amen.
**The above is an adapted reading from my newest book, Bless Your Heart: Daily Devotions to Warm Your Heart & Feed Your Soul. It is one of my most beloved devos and I’m reprinting it here upon request.
If you’re looking for a spiritually uplifting Thanksgiving or Christmas gift for a BFF (Blessed Friend Forever) or heart-sister, I hope you’ll look for Bless Your Heart on Amazon.com and don’t forget the two adorable companion Boxes of Blessings (One is called “52 Ways to Bless Your Heart for Couples” and the other, “52 Ways to Bless my BFFs” for only $4.99 each, also on Amazon).