Session 2

Obedience isn’t always easy

From Luke: A 24-Day Devotional

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Obeying God is easier on some days than others. Maybe you feel like something or someone is disrupting your attempts to follow God, making obedience difficult or uncomfortable. Maybe your plans seem to make more sense than God’s plans. When obedience doesn’t come easy, our greatest temptation is to simply give up and take an easier way.

In Luke 2, Mary and Joseph were summoned to Bethlehem for a census. The timing was not ideal. Mary was nearing the end of her pregnancy. Travel was both inconvenient and uncomfortable, but Mary was faithful. She and Joseph left their home and their support system and walked hundreds of miles to Joseph’s hometown for the census. This journey was not in Joseph and Mary’s plan, but it was part of God’s plan. Through the census, the Old Testament prophecies that Christ would be born in Bethlehem were fulfilled.

God called Joseph and Mary to bring a miraculous child into the world, so they trusted God to provide for them and protect them on the journey. When we’re tempted to grow bitter or discontent with God’s plan, we, too, can trust that God is who He says He is and He wants what is best for us. God’s plan may seem painful at times, but it is always perfect.

Reflect:

Have you ever been tempted to give up on something you know God called you to do? What did you learn from that experience?
Why do you think obedience is not always easy?
How are you being called to uncomfortable obedience today?

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