The Happy Way Is To Obey: Part II

by Audrey Wauson

Why? ... Why is the happy way to obey?
(Have you ever noticed that we never seem to get past the age of three when it comes to doing something that we’re not really keen on doing, or something that doesn’t make sense to us? We still want to know, Why?)

Why? Because, “Obedience is the opener of eyes.” says George Macdonald. The training that we receive from our parents is invaluable. Pretty much regardless of the kind of parents we had. This training, or raising, opens our eyes to the great big world of ‘not me.’ When we’re tiny we live under the delusion that it’s all about me. But gradually, thanks to our parents, we learn there are other people out there who sometimes take priority over our time, attention, and love. God knew who we were going to have as parents and He knows what kind of parents we will be. And somehow it is His divine plan, His purpose, that we learn from our parents everything that we need to learn to have a long, full life. What is it Jesus says…
“My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” John 10:10 NLT

What is a full life? I think it’s going to be a God-filled life, a life of purpose and direction, full of laughter and tears, gladness and sorrow, challenges and accomplishments, defeats and victories. It will be a life where God never leaves us, doesn’t abandon us, doesn’t forget about us, or reject us. But calls us His very own sons and daughters. And is always working for our good, because He is good!Honoring/obeying is not a feeling that seems right, or something that we need to pray about whether or not we should do it. It’s just one of those things that we do, because God said so! Honoring/obeying is all based on trust. Do I believe God when He says that if I will honor then I will be honored and receive the promise? Do I trust God to know what is best for me? Do I believe that He really knows who my parents are and how hard/impossible it seems to be to honor?

Ok, so how do we teach honor/obedience to our children? - We model it.
That’s what Jesus did. “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.” Luke 2:51 NIV Then He said, "If you love me, obey my commandments.” John 14:15-16 NLT

And we train/disciple it in. We gently tell them to hush so that we can speak to them. We remind them that we love them and that we are going to do whatever it takes to comfort, care, and provide for them. We do what we say we will do. Therefore we don’t lie and say that we’re going to stop loving them if they don’t stop doing such and such. We don’t threaten them with days of sitting in the corner when we know that we’ll only supervise 30 minutes of it. We don’t throw fits and scream and yell at them trying to intimidate them into doing what we want them to do. We don't ignore them and their behavior, deluding ourselves into thinking that it doesn't matter what they do. Nor do we lazily ignore the whole situation and focus on our own interests and desires.

Instead, we think about the outcome, the result, the finished product. What is it that we want to see our children doing and saying next year? When they are 10? 20? When they are parents? What does God want our children to know? How does He want them to behave? Then we set clear and defined rules that they can be understand and that we are willing to enforce. (More than a handful of rules is too many.) Then we obey our rules, and we all suffer if we disobey them. We suffer because it means we have to do the dirty work of discipline (sometimes in the form of corporal punishment – which is always painful, but often in the form of practicing – which is really almost more difficult for us as parents) And they suffer, who wants to be disciplined? However, we can all be like Christ when we submit to discipline.

...Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ... Heb 5:8 NIV

After disciplining our children, we should remind them of our love for them, of our plans for their future, plans that will prosper them and not harm them, plans to give them a hope and a future… Where have we heard that before? Hmm… ;) …Jeremiah 29:11

Really and truly, the happy way is to obey!