At the edge of obedience, when God’s command doesn’t make sense, we face one of the most profound struggles in the life of faith. God asks us to do something that seems irrational, unreasonable, or even contradictory to His promises. We are asked to trust His voice above our understanding, to surrender what we think we know for the sake of a divine call that doesn’t fit with our plans. In these moments, we are forced to choose between obedience and doubt, between the logic of our own reasoning and the trust that God, in His infinite wisdom, knows what is best.
Take, for example, Abraham. God spoke to him and gave him a command that would test the very foundation of his faith and understanding. “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2). This wasn’t just any child; this was Isaac, the son of promise, the child through whom all the promises God had made to Abraham were to be fulfilled. God had promised that through Isaac, Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5). How could this be? Why would God ask him to sacrifice the very promise He had given him? But Abraham, despite the overwhelming emotion and confusion he must have felt, obeyed. His faith wasn’t based on understanding, it was rooted in trust in the character of God.
In the Hebrew, the word for sacrifice is ‘olah’, which means an offering that is completely consumed by fire. It’s not just a gesture; it’s a total surrender. Abraham’s obedience was not a half-hearted action; it was a complete act of faith. Isaac was not merely his son; he was the fulfillment of God’s covenant, the promise of future generations. Offering Isaac back to God meant surrendering everything. Yet, Abraham didn’t hesitate. He rose early the next morning and took Isaac to the mountain, with no assurance of how God would resolve this seeming contradiction. Obedience, even when it doesn’t make sense, opens the door for miracles and for God to reveal Himself in ways we cannot predict.
When Abraham raised the knife, the angel of the Lord stopped him and provided a ram to offer in place of Isaac (Genesis 22:11-13). The obedience that seemed like a loss of everything became the very catalyst for God’s provision. Abraham’s willingness to obey, even in the face of confusion and pain, set the stage for God’s faithfulness to be revealed. And in this moment of obedience, Abraham’s faith was not only tested but strengthened. His obedience led to a revelation of God as the Provider, and this story would echo through the generations as a testimony of God’s unfailing faithfulness.
Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus shows us the ultimate example of obedience. The night before His crucifixion, Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane, knowing the pain and suffering that awaited Him. In Luke 22:42, He prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” Jesus, in His humanity, was deeply troubled by the thought of what was about to happen. The physical suffering, the weight of sin He would bear on the cross, the separation from the Father—all of it loomed before Him. But He chose obedience over His own will. The Greek word for obedience is ‘hupakouo’, meaning to hear under or to submit to authority. Jesus’ obedience wasn’t passive; it was an act of submission to the Father’s will. It was a complete surrender of His desires, of His own comfort, to fulfill the divine purpose. Obedience didn’t make sense to the natural mind, but it was through this obedience that Jesus would secure the salvation of the world.
Even more profoundly, Jesus’ obedience led Him to the cross, where He would lay down His life for the very people who would mock, betray, and reject Him. He knew the suffering that awaited Him, but He still chose obedience. In Philippians 2:8, Paul writes that Jesus, being found in appearance as a man, humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. In that moment, when all seemed lost, obedience opened the way for the greatest victory the world would ever know.
Then, consider the story of Moses. After God had miraculously delivered the Israelites from Egypt, they found themselves trapped by the Red Sea, with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit (Exodus 14). Moses was faced with an impossible situation. The people were terrified, and they cried out to God in fear. Yet God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. “Why would God ask him to do this?” Moses must have wondered. The sea was not going to part on its own. The Hebrew word for “stretch” is ‘natah’, which means to extend or reach out intentionally. Moses wasn’t just asked to do something without purpose. His obedience to stretch out his hand was an act of faith that would lead to a miracle.
When Moses obeyed and raised his staff, the sea parted, and the Israelites walked through on dry land. Obedience in this moment didn’t make sense. It was an act of trust, and through that trust, God demonstrated His power. The waters didn’t part because of Moses’ wisdom or strategy. They parted because of his obedience to God’s command. And in that act of obedience, God displayed His glory and made a way where there seemed to be no way.
The same principle holds true for Peter when he walked on water. In Matthew 14:28-31, when Jesus called him to step out of the boat and walk to Him on the water, it seemed impossible. The wind was strong, the waves were crashing, and yet Peter obeyed the command of Jesus. Obedience in this moment didn’t come with an understanding of how it would work, it was an act of faith in the One who called him. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked on the water. But when he looked at the storm, he began to sink. Obedience doesn’t guarantee ease or comfort, but it opens the door to experiencing God’s power in ways we could never imagine.
Even in moments when obedience seems foolish, God’s commands are always tied to His purpose. In John 2:5, when Jesus instructed the servants to fill the waterpots with water, they had no reason to believe anything would happen. There was no logical reason to think that the water would turn into wine. But because they obeyed, they witnessed the first miracle of Jesus, something that no one could have predicted, something that defied natural law. Obedience to God’s command, even when it doesn’t make sense, brings us into the realm of the miraculous.
The truth is that obedience, when it doesn’t make sense, is often the pathway to a deeper revelation of God’s character and His power. When we obey, even when we don’t understand, we step into a place where God is free to move in ways we couldn’t have anticipated. And in those moments, we learn that God’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). What may seem like an impossible command becomes an invitation to experience His faithfulness and provision in ways we could never have imagined.
Obedience, especially when it feels illogical or confusing, is a declaration of trust in God’s goodness and His sovereignty. It’s an acknowledgment that He knows best, even when the path He asks us to walk is uncertain. And it’s through that obedience, through that surrender to His will, that we are transformed. It’s through obedience that we encounter God’s presence in deeply personal ways, and it’s through obedience that we see His miracles unfold before us.
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