In one of our school sessions a few weeks ago, the audience sang a line from Lindy Cofer’s song “Take Courage”:
There’s a yes in our hearts and it carries through eternity. Simple obedience changes history.
Simple obedience changes history.
I haven’t been able to get that song or those words out of my head ever since. I wish I had written them. They’re so simple but carry so much significance.
Simple obedience changes history.
Bill Johnson, who is one of my heroes and one of my favorite speakers, shared about how he never desired to preach. From standing on a stage to starting a church bookstore, there were all kinds of responsibilities in the church that he never wanted, but he was asked to do them and he did what was asked of him. Today he is well-known as the senior leader of Bethel, a church 10,000 people call their home, and that bookstore, which sells countless books including his own, is still going strong. (Coincidentally, writing was another thing he never wanted to do.)
Bill Johnson was obedient, and he has changed history. He is still changing history.
I can think of so many people, known and unknown to the world, who have changed history because of their obedience. Corrie Ten Boom. Martin Luther King, Jr. Esther and Ruth in the Bible. My friends who are missionaries. My parents. My grandparents.
I want to be one of those people. Not someone whose name is written in history books, but someone whose obedience affects history for the better. When my life on earth is finished, I want to die knowing I was obedient and that my obedience benefited others. I don’t want to wish I had been obedient. I want to know I was. I want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant” when I get to heaven. I want to know I fulfilled God’s purposes for my life.
I can’t be perfect, but I can be obedient. I want to be known as someone who is obedient to Christ. Even when it’s hard. Even when it looks crazy or weird. Even when nobody else understands. Even when it’s controversial. Even when it’s uncomfortable.
You and I wouldn’t even be here if not for the obedience of other people who’ve gone before us. Have you ever thought about that? We are here because of other people’s obedience.
Who will be here in the future because of yours? Who will reap the benefits of your radical obedience to Christ? Every decision you make has the potential to affect other people.
What is God asking you to do in this season? Will you be obedient?
Obedience can be hard, but it is so worth it – both for you and for the ones yet to come.
Simple obedience changes history. Your obedience changes history. May you have the courage to be obedient in whatever God is calling you to do, and may the generations to come reap the benefits of your obedience today.