Have you ever been in a situation where you were so confident about something, until you talked to someone else and all over sudden you were not sure anymore? It can be something as mundane as a certain dish that you were really craving and were determined to get at a particular restaurant but a friend convinced you otherwise. Or it can be something as serious as an instruction God has given you. One that He made so clear and that you were determined to obey but as soon as you talked to someone else, they convinced you to abandon that instruction or compromise, which led to you disobeying God. If you fall in the latter category, this post is for you.

In 1 Kings 13, we read about the unfortunate demise of a man of God, which came as a result of his disobedience to a clear instruction he had received from God. 

For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” 

1 Kings 13:9 NKJV

The instruction was very clear and the man of God was committed to obey it. When King Jeroboam tried to persuade him to go home with him and have a meal, the man of God stood his ground and stayed obedient to the Word of God he had received. However, things changed when he encountered an old prophet. The man of God initially held on to his conviction of the Word He had received but the old prophet, through deception, effectively persuaded him to compromise.

He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

I Kings 13:18-19 NKJV

The man of God was quick to disobey the Word he received because the old prophet had convinced him that an angel spoke to him (the old prophet) by the word of the Lord. What was the old prophet’s motive of lying to the man of God? The Bible doesn’t say. All we know is that the lie was enough to convince the man of God to ignore God’s clear instruction to Him. And this resulted in very serious consequences for him.

Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ” So it was, after he had eaten bread after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 

1 Kings 13:20-24 NIV

When God gives you an instruction, He requires complete obedience. It doesn’t matter who else, even someone who claims to hear from God, tries to convince you otherwise. The Bible warns us that in the last days, many false prophets will rise up and deceive many (Matthew 24:11 NKJV). The Bible does not show what punishment the old prophet received for deceiving the man of God. All we know is that the judgement that fell on the man of God for his disobedience was so severe. 

The Bible has numerous examples of people who didn’t agree with God’s instructions and tried to deter others from fulfilling them. For example, David’s oldest brother Eliab was angry at him due to his determination to fight against Goliath (1 Samuel 17:28 NKJV). Although David didn’t have an express instruction from God to kill Goliath, He had a deep conviction and faith that God would help him do so. Eliab could have been jealous because He had been passed up as the next king of Israel and David had been chosen instead (1 Samuel 16:1-13 NKJV).

But it is not only malice that motivates people to dissuade others from obeying God. In Acts 21:12-14 NKJV, there were believers who tried to convince Paul not to go to Jerusalem, due to the imprisonment and persecution he would face there. This was because of their deep love and affection for him. However, Paul, due to his deep conviction of being an apostle, chose to go, even if it meant He would end up dying. Sometimes those closest to us will try to dissuade us from executing God’s instruction because they love us so much and don’t want to see us enduring hardship, pain or discomfort.

All these examples show us that it does not matter what the motive is, we should never be talked out of obeying the instruction God has clearly given us. I will offer two disclaimers though: 

1. It is important that the instruction is from God. At times, we are on the fence with our obedience because we are not sure if the instruction is from God, from the devil or from ourselves based on our own desires. Discernment from the Holy Spirit is required to determine this. Once you are certain that the instruction is from God, then there is ABSOLUTELY no reason that should deter you from obedience. I will discuss how to know an instruction is from God in another post.

2. I am not in any way discounting the importance of having wise counsel. The Bible is categorical about the importance of having other believers having input in our salvation journey (Proverbs 11:14, Proverbs 27:17, James 5:16 and many more.) We see this clearly with Samuel and Eli, David and Prophet Nathan. In my own life, I’ve had family members, friends and pastors speak words to me that were a confirmation of what God had spoken to me. At times they’ve even spurred me into obedience when I was struggling with feelings of worry and anxiety. However, the final authority in our lives is God and the Word He has spoken to us. When ANYONE gives us a word (even if they claim it is from God) that contradicts the clear instruction we received from God, we have to be willing to obey God at all costs. If the line is between disobeying God or disagreeing with our loved ones, we should always choose to fall on the side of obedience to God.

There are many times that God instructions won’t make sense in our limited human minds and may be inconvenient to the people around us. Abraham was called to leave his father’s household (Genesis 12:1) and Gideon was called to destroy the altars his father had made for idol worship (Judges 6:25-26). Sometimes people try to convince us to compromise on God’s instruction because our obedience would be inconvenient for them or would expose their own disobedience to God.

Obedience to God means doing exactly what God says, how He said it and when He said it. Partial obedience is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Total and timely obedience is what God requires.

In my life, I have resolved that I will obey God’s instruction (by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit) even when it doesn’t make sense to me or those around me. Years ago, I developed this slogan that has become an anchor – I will do what God has told me to do, the world can catch up later. Doesn’t mean that I have done this perfectly but I have suffered the painful cost of disobedience to God enough and I would never want to go through that again. I also hold the weight that one day, I am going to stand before God ALONE and will have to explain why I didn’t obey His instructions. And no one else will be able to answer on my behalf.

So to you who is on the fence, tempted to compromise on what God told you to do, I beg you, please obey God fully. Just like in Noah’s story (Genesis 9:1-17), sometimes it will only makes sense once it starts raining.

Prayer.
Lord, thank you for your instructions to me. I admit that it can be very easy to compromise and be dissuaded from obeying you. Your word says that you are working in me, giving me the desire and power to do what pleases you (Philippians 2:13). Lord, please give me the ability and willingness to do what you said, when you said it and how you said it. Whether it makes sense or not, when it’s convenient and when it’s not, when I feel like it and when I don’t. Thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit that will help me to do this. In Jesus Name, Amen.