To Trust and Obey Feels Like a Threat to Your Well-being
“And Elijah said to her, ‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth’” 1 Kings 17: 13, 14.
Obedience Feels Like a Threat
This is the account of the widow from Zarephath who was instructed by the prophet Elijah to give the first part of her last meal to him during a severe famine. The natural response to this would be fear. And this is why he instructs her to not be afraid.
To read the passage for context, click here.
The word of the Lord often causes fear to rise up in us because obedience to that word looks like it will be a threat to our well-being. In fact, if God doesn’t intervene, it probably will be.
To be obedient is, in effect, to not fear because we won’t obey if we allow fear to control the narrative. If we are too afraid, we won’t yield, so to obey is to defy fear.
Trust and Don’t Be Afraid
The Bible tells us to trust and obey and to trust and not be afraid. I believe these two mandates are interchangeable.
When we choose to obey, even though it’s not in our best interest, we are saying “I will trust and not be afraid of an adverse outcome”.
I believe the reason obedience often looks likes like a threat is because it requires trust. If there was no peril involved, it wouldn’t require trust.
God wants to teach us to trust Him. Then when we do trust and obey or trust and not fear, we get to see God do a miracle. We get to see Him intervene to prevent the danger we’ve exposed ourselves to as in the case of this widow.
If she would’ve chosen to walk by sight rather than faith and allow the threat and fear to dictate her decision, she and her son would’ve had their one meal and then would’ve died. Just as she stated in verse 12.
The Real Threat Is Disobedience
Obedience looks like the threat. But the real threat is disobedience.
In doing Elijah’s bidding, the widow was in effect seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And as a result, all these things were added unto her (Mathew 6:33).
In order to get the provision, she had to trust. And trust expresses itself in obedience despite the threat to our well-being.
To read another post related to To Trust and Obey Feels Like a Threat to Your Well-Being see Walk by Faith Not by Sight: Which Message Will You Believe?