(un)Limited: When Obedience Stretches You
Faithful obedience. It seems simple when I type those two words, but I realize how difficult it is to live a life marked by faithfulness. Ever since we were little kids, we are asked about our dreams, and our hopes, and our plans. We ask preschoolers, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” We asked middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students, “Where do you want to go in this world?”
We ask questions that point us toward thinking about our own plans for our lives instead of asking questions pointed toward obeying God’s plans for our lives. It becomes hard for us to picture a life beyond what we can imagine in places we may have never thought of or been to. We put ourselves and our lives in a box instead of allowing the still, small whispers of the Holy Spirit to invite us into faithfulness. In 1 Kings 19:11-13, we see that it was through the gentle whisper that Eli- jah learned to hear the voice of the Spirit. When we choose to live a life that is in step with the Holy Spirit, seeking and pursuing all the Lord has for our life, we live a life that is no longer bound by our thoughts, hopes, and dreams. Day after day, moment after moment, we learn to listen closely to the whispers of the Lord, and our heart becomes trans- formed in the life-giving power of Jesus Christ.
As you venture into this new season, be careful to listen to the gentle whispers and seek to be a person who is marked by faithful obedience. The Lord may ask you to go to far from ordinary places,
to meet with strangers, or to do work you never imagined. The Lord may ask you to engage with this world in ways you never thought were possible, but all he requires of you is to hear his voice and live in obedi- ence with a willing heart.
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Courtney Dunn moved to Wilmore, KY after graduating from IWU; in Wilmore, she is finishing a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. After graduation, she plans to move to Eastern Europe as a Long-Term Worker. It is her desire to see all people have the opportunity to hear and know the Gospel and to then live a life fully transformed in the power of Jesus Christ. When Courtney isn’t studying or traveling the world, she can often be found laughing in a coffee shop.