When we hear disobedience, we usually think it only means not doing what God told us to do. Although that is definitely true, I want to help ya’ll see the other side of disobedience.
Disobedience means a FAILURE or REFUSAL to follow God’s command. It means an act of DISTRUST or lack of belief. It also means NOT TRUSTING God’s leading enough to follow Him. And It means to actively or passively choosing your OWN desires above God’s will!
I saw this while I was reading 1 Samuel 15. God had given King Saul specific instructions concerning the Amalekites. Saul went and did SOME of what God commanded, but he did NOT do everything God told him to do!
God told Saul to kill them ALL including livestock! Let not one person or thing remain! But instead, Saul killed some of them but not all of them… He spared King Agag, and he also allowed the best sheep and cattle to be kept! Then Saul tried to justify it! He said the animals had been kept to sacrifice them to God… (Yeah.. Okay…)
But Samuel told Saul “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22) In other words, God was NOT impressed by Saul’s sacrifice, because God had asked for his OBEDIENCE, not a sacrifice! And this is where we have to examine ourselves. We canNOT replace obedience with our religious or repetitive activities.
You can pray, you can fast, you can worship, you can flag, use war sticks, you can cry your eyes out, you can go to church, you can fall out all over the altar, you can serve, you can do all the things that appear to be what God wanted… or what you believe to be right at that moment to God…
But if God has clearly commanded something in His Word and we’re refusing to obey it, our religious or repetitive activities won’t cancel out our disobedience! (READ ALL OF THAT AGAIN)
Saul basically said, “God, I obeyed You…BUT, I made a few changes.” Partial obedience is STILL disobedience… 99% obedience, is STILL DISOBEDIENCE! In 1 Samuel 15:23 it says “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
God is connecting rebellion with witchcraft. I’m not saying this means every time someone disobeys, they are literally practicing witchcraft… The comparison shows us how SERIOUSLY God views rebellion. Witchcraft seeks power, direction, or spiritual influence outside of submission to God. And Rebellion rejects God’s rightful authority and says, “I want my way instead of God’s way.”
Disobedience is failing or refusing to obey. But when we KNOW what God has said and stubbornly resist His authority because we want our own way, that disobedience becomes REBELLION.
In 1 Samuel 15:24 Saul later admitted what was really underneath his disobedience! It says “I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” Saul listened to the people’s voice ABOVE God’s voice. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves, Whose voice am I listening to? God’s voice? My emotions? My friends? My family? My significant other? My children? Social media? Fear? My flesh? Am I listening to what I want or what others want?
Sometimes we say, “I’ll do it eventually.”
But if God has already made something clear to us, we have to be careful that “eventually” doesn’t become disobedience. So what is underneath your disobedience? Is it fear, pride, stubbornness, people-pleasing, or impatience, wanting control? Was it because you wanted what you wanted more than you wanted God’s will? Or was it because deep down, you didn’t trust God enough to obey Him? Because obedience and trust are connected.
When God speaks through His Word and you choose your own way instead, your actions are essentially saying that you think your way is better than His way. But the Bible says in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” We don’t have to understand everything God tells us in order to obey Him. We just have to trust the One giving the instruction. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
Our obedience doesn’t earn God’s love. Our obedience is a response to our love for Him and our trust in Him.