Shell encourages us to trust God

Shell Perris

Obedience... When it comes to God, a lot of people hear the word 'obey' and run!! Some people think that by obeying God, they'll end up being controlled and made to do things they don't really want to do! But I think it's about a lot more than that.

When I got married to my hubby, Tim, one of the promises I made was that I would 'honour and obey' him! For me, that wasn't about saying, "Here, you make all the choices and I'll do everything you tell me to do." It was about saying, "I love you unconditionally, I trust you whole heartedly and I want to make you happy." Sometimes I fail to get it right 100% of the time but I try my best! You see - being obedient is something that you get better at the more you do it. It's not something that you're expected to be good at from day one. It's a process and it starts by having the courage and the faith to trust.

Look at Noah for example. I am pretty certain that Noah would have done things wrong and made a few bad choices in his life because he was a normal human being but he found favour with God. Why? - because despite messing up God knew that his heart said, "God, I love you unconditionally, I trust you whole heartedly, and I want to make you happy." God saw that his heart was committed to him and so he used Noah in a mind-blowing way.

Now just for a minute I want you to put yourself in Noah's shoes. One day, you wake up and God tells you to build a great big boat. He gives you the specific measurements and tells you that he's going to flood the earth but that it's ok because you and your family are going to survive along with a load of animals!! I don't know about you but I wouldn't like to have to tell Tim all that... I think his reaction would be something along the lines of, "go back to sleep Shell and wake up when you've got something a little less crazy to say!" Ever seen the film 'Evan Almighty'? It's kinda like that. Evan becomes Noah, God tells him to build a boat and the people around him think he's crazy but he builds the boat anyway. And guess what... when the damn breaks and there turns out to be a flood, everyone wants to get on his boat!!

Noah didn't get fazed by this ridiculous idea and he didn't wait until it was too late - he just got on with it. I'm sure his wife had her fair share of things to say about it all and I bet the people around him thought he was loopy but he carried on regardless. He had faith and the ability to trust that God knew what he was doing.

It can be really tough to trust that God knows what he's doing. I know I've been through times when I'm shouting out to God and wondering what on earth is going on! But I usually find that at the end of those times, I look back and realise why it all happened the way it did and I see God's fingerprints everywhere. I then learn from my mistakes and next time I'm in a similar situation I find it that little bit easier to trust that God knows what he's doing and that makes it a little bit easier to be obedient.

If you're in a situation where God is asking you to do something and you know you need to do it, don't worry. Just look for God's fingerprints and think about the times when he's been there for you in the past. Ask God to give you more faith and the ability to trust him. You should find that it gets a little bit easier every time. Don't give up. Carry on regardless because with God anything is possible!