Guest Post-Paige Barnes

Today I would like to introduce to you a very special guest blogger, Paige Barnes.  Paige is my cousin by blood and my sister in Christ.  I had asked her to share on my blog several weeks ago, and when God gave her the words to say, it was the same subject I was preparing to write about myself.  So enjoy her post, and then check out her blog for more!  Thank you, Paige for sharing.



Sucker Punched
 By: Paige Barnes


Realizing that you have not been truly obedient to God is like a sucker punch to the gut. It's like you think you are making progress, and then God speaks to you. And this time you can hear him because you are really listening.  And He tells you that you are not being completely obedient to him. You are partially obedient, but that is not enough. He has called you to more. He asks for and is due complete obedience. It's not because God is greedy and needs it, but He desires for me to be his pure and spotless bride. He knows that it is for my good and thus, for His glory. Some good has come from my partial obedience. Yet, I believe it is only the tip of the iceberg. 

There has been some life change, some heart change, some freedom.  His word says He has more planned than I can imagine for this life, but if I am only walking in partial obedience then I am only seeing part of the blessing. The blessing comes in pouring myself out for others, in the way God has called me to. Not the ways I choose, necessarily, because I often want to choose what is pretty and clean. Many times God wants to call us to service that is not polished and often messy. 
 
My pastor talked yesterday about serving others. I thought I was doing this one! I am always trying to teach or lead or help or something. And then my pastor asked who we might be overlooking that God was calling us to serve. 

 I felt sucker punched again. I grabbed some scratch paper in my Bible and began to make a list. Ten people. Ten people on that list that I am not really serving. Its not like I don't know God has called me to serve. So today marks a step toward total obedience. I have no idea what it will look like or what it will feel like. I can only imagine that it will be something similar to......freedom.



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