Walk, Listen and Obey

Shana Schutte shared in her article “Discovering Your God-Given Purpose” this story.

There once was a man who netted three trout from a mountain stream and carefully placed them side-by-side on a thick patch of grass. Before he removed them from the water, they were like a liquid ballet in motion. Fluid. Graceful. Vibrant. Alive. After he netted them, it was another story.

As the trout lay on the grass, they were motionless. Their eyes were fixed. They gasped for air, and they looked — and acted — stupid. The man noticed they seemed unhappy, so he talked to them, hoping that his encouragement would change them. “Little fish, don’t be sad. You’ll like the grass. Just try it out for a while.” No movement. No response. No change.

A few more seconds passed. The man’s neighbor walked by. “Hey, Bob! Come and check out these fish!” Bob sauntered over and the man explained that he was certain the fish could adjust. “I’m sure they could prosper here on the grass. Don't you agree?” “Why not?” Bob replied. So he also tried to tell the fish it would be good if they learned to like the grass. After all, he liked the grass. Why shouldn’t they? Still, the fish didn’t blink. They just lay there looking dumber by the second.

Finally, a little boy approached exclaimed, “What are you doing? Put them back! They can’t be all they’ve been created to be when they are out of the water.”

Finally convinced, the man carefully placed each fish back in the stream. After splashing for a split second, all three swam away effortlessly. Again, it was like a liquid ballet. What ease! What grace! What beauty!

In that moment, the man realized that no matter how long the fish lay there they would never adjust to the grass, and would never be satisfied — no matter how much he (or anyone else) told them otherwise. Even if the fish tried to convince themselves they could learn to like the grass, they never would, and they would never prosper. In fact, they would eventually die.

Do you feel like a fish out of water? The God wants you to return to the waters. God wants you to return to Him. God wants you to receive His blessings. God wants you to understand His will. God wants you to embrace His purpose for your life.

Our Longings and Our Purpose in Life

Are we dissatisfied with our life? Are there longings that haunt our lives for years. Even when we have committed our life to the Lord, do we still experience prolonged dissatisfaction in life?

Like the fish out of the water, we feel like we are dying inside, longing for the

water, struggling to return to the waters. Maybe we need to push ourselves into another, more satisfying ocean. Maybe we need to understand more the purpose God has for us.

If we feel like we are out of the water, then we are out of God’s purpose in our life. There is hope for the water. There is in fact, a vast ocean of God’s abundant mercy and grace. His Words are available to us to find our way back to His will and purpose.

So how do we find God’s purpose in life? God’s purpose for our life may not be same, may not have the same degree, or may not be on the same level (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). With this diversity of spiritual gifts and the same Spirit, the purpose of God is therefore a matter of individual dispensation. So how does each of us find the purpose that God has for each of us?

Walk, listen and obey

In order to find God’s purpose in our life, we simply walk, listen and obey.

We walk.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

Finding God’s purpose in our life means that we walk in the light of God’s presence.

Without the presence of God, we will not understand His will.

What does it mean to walk with God?

To walk with God means to walk that same path that He walks (Genesis 5:22-24). When Enoch walked with God, God took Him to where He is. According to Bob Sorge in his article “The Secret of Walking with God”, from the beginning, God has wanted a walking partner. He further writes, “By taking Enoch up to glory, God wasn't trying to get us impressed with Enoch's piety. Nor was God saying, “If you get to be as spiritual as Enoch, you'll get taken up to heaven, too.” This was a unique experience God used to emphasize a specific point. God's point was, “I love to walk with man! Enoch was the first man to truly walk with me, so I decided to highlight his example by doing something extraordinary with him. I took him up to paradise to underscore how much I value and desire a daily walking relationship with my chosen ones.”  Enoch's example continues to witness to all generations of the great zeal God has to walk with man.

The walk with God is to find a place of God. The road to God are righteousness and holiness. The only road to God is Jesus Christ (1 John 5:7)  God wants to walk with humans and humans must live a holy life through the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. To walk with God is the know Jesus Christ, be cleansed from sin, and live a life that is Christ-like. This is very essence of holiness. This is holiness expressed in the life of a believer.

In order to understand God’s purpose in our life, we need to walk with God. We need to live a life of holiness and righteousness. We need to live the life that Jesus Christ died for.  We need to experience the mercy and blessings of God. We need to experience His joy.

To walk with God is to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). To walk with God is to gain His protection and guidance (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). To walk with God is to learn from Him (John 8:12).

When we walk with the Lord, we do not walk in the darkness of worldly pleasures

and treasures. Dwight L. Moody once said, “If I walk with the world, I can not walk with God.”

We listen.

My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:1-5).

Now that we have decided to walk with God in order to understand His purpose in us, we also need to listen (John 8:47; John 10:27-28).

Scriptures remind us that in order for us to discover the purpose of God in our life, we need to listen.

Let us look at the life of one of the greatest leaders of the people of God, Samuel. How did Samuel learn of God’s purpose for His life? 1 Samuel 3 tells us the story of God calling Samuel. 1 Samuel 3:10 provides us with the basic lesson from Samuel’s young life: Then God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel answered, “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen.”

How about the story of Jonah? Jonah was called by God to preach the gospel to

Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-3). But Jonah did not listen to the Lord’s command. He sailed to Tarshish instead to flee from the Lord. Not until his encounter with the big fish that Jonah finally heeded God’s call (Jonah 3:1-3).

God is pleased with our desire to listen to Him (Romans 10:17). We are created by

God to listen to Him (John 8:47).

Rick Warren, the author of the Purpose Drive Life,  wrote in May 21, 2014, “Listen to

God; do not listen to your doubts.” He further wrote that the antidote to the voices of doubt is to instead listen to the voice of God.

So how then do we listen to God? Craig von Buseck suggested 7 keys to hearing God’s

voice:

1. We listen to God through the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

2. We listen to God through the Holy Spirit who speaks to our heart (Hebrews 8:10-11).

3. We listen to God through prophetic knowledge and wisdom (1 Thessalonians 19-21).

4. We listen to God through godly counsel (Proverbs 11:14).

5. We listen to God through the confirmation of godly brethren (Matthew 18:16).

6. We listen to God through the peace that He gives (Colossians 3:15).

7. We listen to God through circumstances with His right timing (Isaiah 40:31).

We obey.

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. John 10:4

Now that we have decided to walk with God and listen to Him in order to understand His purpose in us, we also need to obey.

Bill Bright in his online sermon “Obedience--The Key to Knowing God’s Will”, said that obedience is the true test of our love for Christ and the secret to discovering God's will for our life. Indeed, we believe that we can discover God’s will through obedience.

Let us look at the life of Paul (Acts 9:3-6). God has a plan for Saul, who later wa

called Paul. Paul obeyed God and became a one of the most influential figures in the history of Christianity. Paul obeyed God and he found His purpose in life.

How about the life of King Saul (1 Samuel 15:2-3)? King Saul disobeyed God by sparing the best flocks from among the spoils of the Amalekites for burnt offerings. But he was rebuked and was rejected (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

Even when Ananias was sorely afraid of Saul, the persecutor, he obeyed God (Acts

9:10-15). By obeying God, he fulfilled the purpose of God not only in His life, but in the life of Paul and in the many other believers.

One’s purpose in life may be different from others. But believers can fulfill such purpose when they walk with God, when they listen to Him and when they obey Him (Philippians 2:12-13). God will reveal His purpose for each believer when they yield to His call.

Living our lives out of the purpose of God is a disaster. It is even more of a disaster when we deliberately move out of the purpose that God intends for us.

Take the lesson from the bird who was not contended with God’s purpose in its life. The spine-tailed swift is not an ordinary little bird. Spine-tailed swifts have been clocked flying at 171 kph (92 mph). One day, it thought, "I'll be the best flyer in the country." So the bird practised, and got faster, and faster, and faster. But it wasn't satisfied, it wanted to go even faster. So the bird pondered the problem and came to a conclusion. It thought, "I know what's wrong. I'm too heavy. I need to get rid of some extra weight." The bird wasn't fat, and wondered what it could do. Suddenly, it realised that it could be a lot lighter if it got rid of its feathers. So it did. The bird removed all it feathers. The bird felt so light and was utterly confident that it can fly even faster. Unfortunately, the bird realized that it could not fly at all.

God wants us to serve Him according to the gift that He provided us. We should use

that gift according to its purpose.