Seriously, Sis Podcast
Seriously, Sis is a real and raw conversation between two Christian women navigating life from different seasons—one single, one married with kids—but united in faith. We tackle everything from relationships and calling to doubt and discipleship, all with honesty, humor, and a heart for Jesus. This is the space where faith meets real life—no filters, just truth.
Seriously, Sis Podcast
Partial Obedience Is Still Disobedience‼️
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Obedience doesn’t just impact us; it impacts the people connected to us.
In this episode, we talk about the importance of obedience and how even partial obedience can have lasting consequences. Julia opens the conversation by sharing the story of Saul and how his decision to only partially obey God set events into motion that would affect the children of Israel generations later.
We then turn the conversation inward and discuss how our own obedience - or lack of it - can shape not only our lives, but also the lives of the people around us.
Check us out!
Instagram: @SeriouslySis.Podcast
YouTube: @SeriouslySisPodcast
Like I say, marijuana is like a gateway thread, right? You start there and you start moving yourself up to letters. And kind of the same thing with setting you if you start here and you make it accessible. You'll follow what the words tell you what God's telling you to do. And then you just trickle it. Oh, I mean, I'll fix this tomorrow. Let's just keep going.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so podcast. And this week, I'm gonna kick it over to Julia so she can tell you what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_01We're gonna talk about obedience and we're gonna talk about uh Madison's disobedience. Um I sent her a video on the subject what, three weeks ago, four weeks ago?
SPEAKER_04Didn't even know you sent a video.
SPEAKER_01Only God knows. I sent it to her and Mike. Mike watched it because Mike is the real MVP. Madison didn't watch it, so her disobedience has led to this episode. But it's gonna be some spoiler alerts because she didn't watch it, but essentially the um the video was talking about the importance of being obedient to uh God's voice and how even partial obedience is still disobedience. And when God calls us to do something, he calls us to finish it completely, because the things that we leave undone or do halfway um have ramifications generations beyond what we can see. But he's God, he sits outside outside of time and space, so he knows. And I won't go through all the details of the video because I want you to watch it, but essentially it was talking about how Saul's disobedience and not um eradicating an entire people group like God called him to do, uh, set into motion all of the events generations later that led to the situation with Esther and Mordecai, where all the Jews' lives were um at stake. Which had Saul done what he was supposed to do, that wouldn't have happened because one of the people who was uh a part of setting that into motion was the descendant of one of the people he let live. It's a very oversimplification of the entire story, but that's essentially it. Had Saul done what God had told him to do to the full, that wouldn't have happened. And the big deal about that is that had they been successful in eradicating the Jews, it would have eliminated the line to Jesus, which would have affected all of mankind. So one person's partial obedience led to all of this, and thank God Esther and Mordecai stepped in and were fully obedient. Um, but Saul's partial disobedience literally could have impacted the cross. And so when you look at it that way, it really brings into perspective your own obedience and how are you listening to God and the things that He's calling you to do? Are you doing it partially? Are you doing it fully? Are you doing it at all?
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And, you know, sometimes it's easy, I think, for me to delay my doing what God said. But now it's got me thinking, like, how does this affect 30 years from now? How does this affect 40 years from now? How does this affect next week if I don't listen to God? And so that's the vein of thought that I'm in with that, and looking at my own life. So I want to ask you, what has being obedient to God looked like and done for you in your life when you did it and when you didn't do it?
SPEAKER_04Oh man. I think that you know, I can look back and I can see times when I was obedient. And for example, now me and my husband are back together, everything's perfect, wonderful there. But I can also see the times where I had delayed obedience. And it wasn't that at the end of it I didn't get to where God was taking me, it was the turmoil I had throughout the process, like the situations I was running into out throughout the process by. Um, I think sometimes when we are being obedient to God, it's like we were talking about what the five or seven stages of grief. I think there's five or seven stages of obedience. Okay. Bartering, yeah, acceptance, like anger. Anger. Like we go through this, like I don't think that's what he's saying. Like knowing that that's what he's saying, or uh, I'm gonna need some clarification. Like, give me, give me some more. But I can I can remember certain places and stages in my life where I was not obedient to God and I didn't follow through and do what he wanted me to do, especially when you're young. That's very common. We just do whatever we want half the time. And um, there was an impact on my life. Decisions I made changed the trajectory I'm sure of wherever God was going to take me then. Now there's not, it's not that there's just not grace, sure, because my life is full of grace. I can see grace everywhere. Um, but there's definitely been things I can look back at and I can be like, well, had I just listened in that moment and done, and sometimes it's not even I like listening where I feel like the Lord's saying, Madison, don't do that. Just my knowledge of the Bible and knowing right from wrong. Right. If I would have just followed what he taught me, you know, like what if I would have just followed what he has set up for us to live by and done that, my life would not be where I am now. It would have been different. Good or bad, I don't know. But I do know that it would have been different.
SPEAKER_01Right. And I I guarantee you it would have been better. If the Lord was telling you to do something or to not do something, or the word was telling you to do something or to not do something, it was for your good, even if it wasn't for your flesh as good. I feel like that's a word. Even if it wasn't satisfying to your flesh for whatever God was trying to accomplish or for your maturity or whatever, it was going to be good. Um, and you brought up a good point about knowing the word and letting that be the thing. The Bible talks about all facets of life, right? And I think sometimes we limit it to like relationships with people or um, you know, just like right and wrong. Right. But scripture talks about finances. Like, I don't know if you know, but the Bible says that the uh borrower is the slave of the lender. And I remember when I uh read that and was just like, wait a minute, this is a word about debt. Like, and there's been times in my life where there was a financial decision I was gonna make, something I didn't need, and I was like, I really want this, but I know that the word says that the borrower is a slave of the lender because I didn't have the money to do it without putting it on a credit card or something like that. And then I did it anyway, and then in two months, I was just like, I'm still paying this thing off. Can I do it? Yeah, but it's annoying. I don't want it as much as I did two months ago. That's right at the moment, right? And it's, you know, I'm gonna pay it off, but it's keeping me from being able to do some of the other things that I wanted to do. So even down to simplistic things like that, knowing your word and following the word and being obedient to it, it's a lot of wisdom in it. And so, you know, I know I opened this up with like this big thing of if you don't, if you're not obedient to God, it's gonna mess up an entire people group. And that could be, but it could also just, you know, push a goal further down the road. You know, if you want to own a home but you can't get your spending under control, well, maybe you could have owned that home in two years, but now it's gonna be five because you've got all this stuff to pay off. So just you know, the practicality of the word and being obedient, I think, is um, you know, something we shouldn't miss as well as looking at like the big life-altering aspects of it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think that um I I say this a lot, like if you're questioning the Bible, then your faith is in jeopardy. There is such a foundation of right and wrong in the Bible. I don't have to ask God if having sex out of marriage is a sin. Should I be doing this, Lord? Give me a sign, anything, right? Because I know he gave me his word. I understand that this is not right. I don't have to ask God if I should steal something from the grocery store. Like, I know that God has said not to do those things, and sometimes we justify sinning or justify doing things that are disobedient because not following is disobedience.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04And we're like, oh well, I mean, God didn't tell me no. I didn't hear him say, hey, pump the brakes, Madison, stop it, don't do that. Um, it's so simple to say, follow what the Bible tells you to do, and you'll live a prosperous life.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_04It's so simple to say that because unfortunately, we we are in a world and a time where not a lot of people are following what the Bible tells them to do, even Christians. Like, let's be honest. We we barter every day about doing things to our own flesh rather than doing things for the word.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04It's very common. And so, like for me, an example, like whenever I, me and Michael first got together, uh, our my my first was before we were married. We had a we had a baby. It was out of order. I knew it was out of order. I was a Christian then, and I I completely understood it was out of order, and I felt it was out of order. I knew it was, but yet we still did that um in those moments. We gave gave into the flesh. Now, years down the road, me and Michael are are married, you know, and we're together and we have a million kids at this point. You know too many kids, probably. And we have we have children.
SPEAKER_01I love every one of your kids. I said two million, not too many. I just wanted to clarify.
SPEAKER_04Um, but I know for a fact, had I done it God's way, things would have turned out different. It would have been easier. It definitely would have been easier, and things would have just turned out different for us than the way they did. We went through a lot of turmoil in our marriage, and we went through a lot of seasons where, you know, when you make an exception and you're disobedient, you make an exception. It's easy to start making exceptions everywhere.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04Once you let the sin in, it's easier for sin to just keep creeping. It's like, what do they say? Um, like they say marijuana is like a gateway drug, right? You start there and you start moving yourself up the ladder. Kind of the same thing with sin. You you start here, you make this acceptable, you're disobedient, you don't follow what the word's telling you, what God's telling you to do, and then you just trickle it. Well, I mean, I'll fix this tomorrow. Let's just keep going.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04This is gonna sound crazy, but I used to, I know the Bible says his mercies are new every morning. I used to be like, well, do its tag, and mercy's new tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01I don't know that that's what that means, but okay.
SPEAKER_04And it's just that, it's just that, you know, we have we live in a time of uh God really does give us grace. He really does. Um I he I think he he knows what we're gonna struggle with, he's aware.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04And he gives us such grace, but I I think that because we are disobedient, there's just you're just walking, there's some turmoil in your life that's going on, and it's due to your disobedience. God's still gonna offer you grace. To your point, we're still gonna make it to the promised land, we're still gonna get there. However, there's gonna be a whole lot of crap along the way because we were not obedient.
SPEAKER_01Right. And you you said something I think is really important that I think we need to emphasize. You were like, you were talking about, well, God didn't say no to this. Something else I've been thinking a lot about lately is discernment. You know, people will say, well, this specific thing isn't specifically stated in the Bible, so how do I know it's wrong? That's why discernment is important. Getting into your word is more about learning the heart of God than it is just about the decrees and the rights and the wrongs. Right. Because when you understand the heart of God, that informs exactly what you're talking about. I don't need someone to tell me that gluttony is wrong, right? Even if it is in there, I don't need somebody to tell me that because the Bible tells me that I should have self-control. It's one of the fruits of the spirit. So if I'm finding myself in a situation where I'm lacking self-control, even if that situation isn't sin for someone else, it's sin for me because I don't have self-control. That's how you differentiate and test the spirits of whether something is good or bad for you specifically or by and large. You have to have that discernment by understanding the heart of God. And if it is sin for you, and you do it anyway, even though the Bible doesn't specifically say Madison, don't do this, it's still disobedience because you know uh God's heart in an in a matter.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01The fact that you're even asking tells a lot. Says a lot. And then for you to go even against the pause in your spirit without asking the Lord, it's probably telling. Maybe you shouldn't be doing that. So um, man, that was a lot of personal conviction to myself. I want to tell this one story um about obedience, and it's actually someone else's disobedience, and they are probably going to punch me for telling this story. I won't mention their name, but I know they watch this podcast, so it is what it is. I apologize in advance. But um I do think it speaks to the power of obedience. There was a particular time in my life I was having a hard time. I don't remember now what it was that I was struggling with, but I was struggling with something, and um whatever it was caused me to make some not good decisions, and I had to deal with said bad decisions. Well, maybe I don't know, two weeks after that catastrophe happens, I'm talking to this particular friend, and they said, you know, about a month ago, I had a dream about you. And um, I I don't remember the specifics of the dream, but they were like, I had a dream about you, and I knew that you were struggling, and it was kind of like a um, it was kind of symbolic. It wasn't exact my exact situation, but let's just say it like this like I was driving recklessly in a car and I knew I was being reckless, but I didn't care that I was being reckless, and I ended up getting in an accident. Like, that's not what the dream was, but that's kind of the idea. And they were like, I had that dream about you, and I felt like I was supposed to tell you that dream, but I never told you this dream. And I'm looking at him like, if you would have told me that dream a month ago, like the Lord told you to, you would have spared me all of this that I just walked through because I would have had the warning from the Lord. Like, obviously, I didn't have the eyes to see whatever it was that I was dealing with in that moment, or I would have made a better decision. But if you would have told me the dream that you got from the Lord, I would have known immediately what it was about, and I might not have blown up my life and everybody else's life. Uh, sorry for putting you out there. But my point is that your obedience not only affects your life, it can affect other people's lives as well, or your lack thereof can affect other people's lives as well. Because had they told me the dream, the warning that they got in that dream, I might have made different decisions.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01I might have said things differently. I might have taken time to be like, okay, what's really going on in here? But I didn't do that. And I can't blame them for my actions, but they could have given me a little bit of a heads up that, hey, you're about to drive off this cliff, figuratively. You're about to drive off this cliff, maybe don't do that. And so, um, and I told them then that if you ever do that again, you and me gonna throw hands. Because in a way, in a way that you do that, and you didn't tell me, and now it's a joke. Like now it's a joke, we joke about it. Um, but I think we both learned a lot in that, um, in the importance of being obedient and speaking um when God tells you to speak and all the things that He that He gives, relaying those messages, because it really could have like saved me some heartache for sure.
SPEAKER_04I think when I think of obedience, I think there's levels to obedience, you know. It's almost like there's a testing. There's a testing you're going through. Will Madison be obedient in in this season? Because whatever you're going to be walking in later on, I need to know you're gonna be obedient in those moments. And it's no different than with a child. Like I put parameters and I set rules for my kids and I tell them to do something, and then when they don't do what I tell them to do, I have I step in. Well, Michael steps in normally, but someone steps in, right? And we're going to hold them accountable because they were not obedient. It's like in in those moments, we're training them to be prepared for the bigger things later on in life. When I say, no, you can't do something, and then you go do it anyways, and you're in trouble because you were disobedient. I'm preparing you for later in life and and the bigger things you're gonna need to be obedient with. Whenever the the traffic law says not to go above 70 and you decide to drive 100, like I'm I'm preparing you to follow the rules, like preparing you to do the right thing. And um I and I think it starts when you're little, like you're young, you know, young in your faith. God starts, you know, giving you these discernment, you know, to follow and to be obedient. And as as you grow and grow, it it doesn't stop. You don't like one day and be like, I'm perfect, got it, Lord, I'm the most obedient. It's so funny that I I think about trust a lot when I think about obedience, because often I feel like we're not obedient because there's a trust factor. Our trust is out of alignment with what you know God wants. Um even if you like think about Jonah, I think there's a trust thing where you know, oh, I'm not really sure when Peter was going out on the there was a trust issue going on. And sometimes when we have obedience issues, I know for me particularly, it's always like this level of trust that I know and I know in my my spirit that God's trying to work out in me, trying to work out that I trust him just a little bit more, Madison, you know, trust me. And it's always at the end of when I um when I'm through the situation or I'm through the scenario, or I followed through with what God told me to do, and I look back and I'm like, huh, okay. Well, um, wow, that was wild. Like, why did I do all that? Like, why did I feel the need to barter? I I know I sent you a reel the other day, and I think the preacher was saying something like, you're not confused, you know what to do, you're bartering. And that's so true. Like when the Lord is telling you to do something to be obedient to him and to follow him, you know what's right. You have discernment, you know what's right. You're bartering. You're making an excuse. Well, I'm not sure, I'm not sure if that's right, Lord. That can't be it. Can you please, like, I don't know, lightning and the twice? Oh, twice? Okay, well, that can't be it either.
SPEAKER_01Like we often there was there was a storm in the forecast, so it can't be can't be that can't be the that can't be the Lord.
SPEAKER_04But we find we barter and we try to, you know, figure out um, and some of that I think is it can be a lack of knowledge, it can be a sh pure confusion. I've had moments where I felt the Lord telling me to do something, but I also was like, is this my flesh? And so then I'm confusing it, like, is this because I want this that I'm I'm thinking about it this way, or is this truly what God wants for me? And I'll find myself in a tug of war, like, shh, is this me or is this God? Is this me or is this God? And I think that's the easiest way that the enemy confuses us a lot because we know, you know, deep down that this is what God wants. But it's easy to look and say, is this my pride, Lord? Am I doing this out of pride? Am I doing this out of myself? Or is this truly what you want for me?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But see, even that, I think, yes, we can do that sometimes knowing full well what the answer is. But I do think that asking that question when you are unsure is important because that shows a heart posture that wants to make the right choice versus making an excuse. Like there's a difference between taking a pause and asking, am I hearing this clearly? Because there have been times when I thought I heard something from the Lord and realized later that was not him. But that's very different than I'm making excuses for what I know I should be doing, right?
SPEAKER_00Right, right.
SPEAKER_01So, like, but I I agree with you that um that Satan will use that opportunity to try to sway you to do the opposite of what God is calling you to do, and that's why the Discernment is important.
SPEAKER_04And I think sometimes like when we are disobedient or we don't follow through or we're not doing what we're supposed to do. I mean, it there's there's a level of uh the flesh, like I said. Um I think about the story of when I went to Bible school, God, God told me to go to Bible school. Um, and I am actually really surprised with myself that I actually did it. Like when he told me to do it. I'm gonna be honest, I was obedient. I dropped everything. And I picked up and I moved me and my three kids to Oklahoma. I had nothing, I knew nothing, but I knew God called me to go to Bible school. I was so I was 100% sure of that. And everything worked out, started falling into play. Like it perfectly worked out. And when he said that my marriage was going to be restored, I thought he was crazy. Because there were no signs. Okay, like you said, cloudy. There was no clouds in sight, like there was no forecast for this to happen. And it wasn't, there wasn't a question of what he told me. He told me that, that that was what was gonna happen. And I sounded nuts when I said it too, because of the situations that were going on in both of our lives. Like, that's a little nuts for me to even think like that, right? Um, in that time, I was fully obedient. I was where God told me to be. I was doing what God told me to do, but then I was doing things that were disobedient. I started dating at one point, totally disobedient. I was aware of that. God told me to stay focused, stay with what I was supposed to be doing in that season. And there were things that would pull my focus. Now, the end result, my marriage was restored. We did get back together, and it was completely like literally, when I say it was like a snap of a finger, it was like we were here, and then I was like, what in the world? Yes, but there was a lot of distractions. There was a lot of things that came into my life that my flesh allowed to come into my life, and it caused a lot of a lot of um turmoil in a lot of the seasons throughout that process. I was fully obedient. I went to school, I did what he said to do, but then there were things I was doing throughout my obedience that were straying me from the end goal. And I don't want to say I went to school because my end goal was to restore my marriage. That was not even on my mind. When God told me that, when I got I got to the school and he told me that was gonna happen, it took two years for that to happen from when I started school to when I finished. I was completely surprised. I thought, like I said, I thought he was nuts. But had I been not obedient, if I never went to school, I said, you know what, I'm not gonna do this, um, because it was hard. It's hard to just pick up your life and just be like, yeah, forget this with three kids. I'm just gonna move. Because the Lord told me to. It has to be it. I'm sure people thought I was nuts. They were like, this woman has literally lost her whole mind, but I knew that's what he called me to do. But had I not done that, and let's say I didn't. I went back to Houston, I said, forget Tulsa. I'm not gonna go to school there. I'm gonna go back to Houston, I'm gonna continue doing what I've been doing. I'm gonna work, I'm gonna date, I'm gonna do all the things I've been doing in my life. Um, I wouldn't be sitting here today. Like me and Michael would have never been restored. I didn't know me going to school was gonna be the catalyst to fix my marriage. I had no clue. I didn't even care about fixing my marriage, if I'm being honest. At that point, we had been years, it was like, uh, whatever, that guy, whatever, you know. So I didn't realize that's where he was taking me.
SPEAKER_01Gotcha.
SPEAKER_04I just knew he was calling me to go.
SPEAKER_01Right. And that's something else. Like, I think we've talked about the casualties that happen when you are disobedient or partially obedient, but there's also the things that you deny yourself when you're not obedient. I mean, to your point, had you not listened to the Lord's voice, your marriage may very well not have ever been restored. And then there would have been three additional children that would not have existed because of um because y'all didn't get back together and life would just be completely different, you know.
SPEAKER_02And they wouldn't be watching this podcast because we wouldn't know each other. It wouldn't be seriously sis, it'd be seriously Julia.
SPEAKER_01It wouldn't be seriously nothing because Julia would not be doing this by herself. So um, but but that's you know, that's very true, and it um reminds me of um there are scriptures all over that talk about um what people received or lost, whether they were obedient or not.
SPEAKER_04I really think it's a testing of trust. Like, are will you trust me enough to do this? As dumb as it sounds, and as as out of pocket as it sounds, because sometimes it's like you want me to do what? Where?
SPEAKER_01With who? You know? Yeah, but the word does say that without faith it's impossible to please God.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I think you're spot on with that, that sometimes the thing that God is trying to work out in us is trust, is faith. So that's kind of where I'm living. Um there's a at any given time, there's like 20 billion different things swimming through my brain. But one of the things right now is obedience and discernment and the importance of both of those.
SPEAKER_04The one of the hardest things to be obedient in is being still. When the Lord tells you, I want you to stay here in this moment. I want you to stay here in this season. I don't want you to move. I don't want you to go and get promoted. I don't want you to pick up and do this. Like, I want you to stay here, especially when you're in a season where there's turmoil, where there's things happening that you're like, I gotta get out of here. There ain't no way the Lord's in this. And he says, keep your feet planted here. That's one of the hardest things to be obedient to because the flesh's natural reaction is, I'm not putting up with this, I gotta go. Like, I don't want to be dealing with this, you know, and saying it's easy to look at a situation and say, I'm out. Let me go do something different, let me go figure something else out. Like this isn't working. I don't like the way you talk to me, I don't like the way you looked at me, I don't like the way this is going. I'm leaving. And for God to say that no, you have you need to stay. And you stay.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_04That's one of the hardest things to be obedient in is saying, well, Lord, they gotta leave. Why can't I go?
SPEAKER_01Exactly, exactly. And I'm so glad you said that. This will be the last thing that I that I bring up, but I have, and this may make some people mad, it may not, some people probably won't care. I have a tattoo on my shoulder that says planted, because um in the season where I first moved to the mountains, it was a very hard season for me because I was growing, right? And um, you know, like being stretched is usually uncomfortable, right? And um, so I was like, Lord, I don't want to be here literally, like anymore, like in the situation. The people that I was around was fine, but it was just the situation, and um, and and just my headspace at the time, and you know, giving up some of the things that I wanted for the things that the Lord wanted to do in me. And I remember um one thing that my my dad uh talks about a lot is shutting down your life and spending it with God. Um, and so there was one day I was really wrestling with it, and I was just like, okay, God, I'm gonna stay up all night and I'm gonna spend time with you because I need some answers on what I'm supposed to do. And um that word, he gave me the word planted, which I then subsequently tattooed on my shoulder. But had I not stayed, I never would have been discipled. I never would have gone through the things that I went through, I never would have had to stand in the ways that I had to stand, and I never would have become the person that I am today spiritually. I'm not even talking about accomplishments, I'm just talking about knowing God.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, had I not stayed in that area, in that environment with those people, I never would have grown in that way. And so when you said planted, it made me think about that, that that was one of those situations where the Lord specifically told me, you're going to stay in this uncomfortable situation. But there was fruit out of it. Because up until that point, um, like I knew God, but I was very new in my walk at that point. Like, up until that point, I I knew God because I was raised in the church. But that was about it. I'd never really experienced God or anything like that, and never really been in his word on my own. Um but it was like at that moment was a defining moment where my relationship with God changed. And that never would have happened had I not stayed planted in that particular season and gone through those hard things. Um, but because I was obedient, one of the one times I got it right, because I was obedient, um, there was a lot of growth in ways that I just know would not have happened anywhere else. Now that I'm on this side of it, I know it wouldn't have happened anywhere else. And so, but it's you're right, it's hard. It's hard to like sit in something that's like, I hate everything about this.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I don't see nothing good in this.
SPEAKER_04Like this can't be, like sometimes we'll get to the point, it's like, the Lord can't want me here. There ain't no way. Sometimes we think if it's not easy, if it's like if we're not seeing, if it's uncomfortable, it's hard. Um, sometimes you're in situations and you're like, man, this this is definitely not biblical, like this is not godly, and God's calling you to stay planted, to stay where you're at. And that's that's hard when, but if you've read the Bible, there are many situations, there's not many that were just easy. I I I can't think of many that I was like, well, that was cake right there, butter, right? There weren't there, he's showing you that it's a process. There is a pruning that's happening. There's things that are happening, and be obedient. Do what he tells you to do. When it's time for you to move to the next season, you're gonna know. There's there's not there, God doesn't leave it up for interpretation and question. Like sometimes we get in this, like people get in this place and like, I don't know. I can't, I just don't know if this is the Lord or not. If it's the Lord, you'll know. You'll know it's the Lord, and it'll it'll be completely apparent. And it's not that he doesn't factor this in, but I'm not sure that he's worried about you being uncomfortable. I really don't. I don't think that's it.
SPEAKER_01Do you think it's a concern it is, really?
SPEAKER_04I don't think it is.
SPEAKER_01At least it hasn't been in my life.
SPEAKER_04He's not he's not worried about you being uncomfortable, being mad, and like filling like the outcast. I don't think he's concerned with that. That's not his main objective in those moments. So, in whatever season you're in or wherever he's telling you to be, be obedient to whatever he's telling you to do. And at the end of it, of that season, you'll you'll see him everywhere. I know we had Kristen on here one time and she was talking about the places that she's seen God, and she tries to say, Where was God in these moments of my life? Um, if you're a believer and you're planted and you're obedient, you see it, you can pinpoint everything. Not everything's meant to be shared with everyone, but like there isn't a moment where I don't look back and I'm like thinking, oh, I'm so happy I was obedient to what the Lord told me to say. When we got in that wreck I shared a while back, God told me to tell those kids to get in their seat. Yeah, I was obedient to what He told me in that moment. I knew it. I knew it in my my flight. I just knew it. And I he was, I could, I could hear it like this is what I need to do. And if I didn't do that, I wouldn't have a child right now. My mama would be gone, all these people would be gone based off of just one split decision. If I would have just in that moment chose not to do what God told me to do.
SPEAKER_00Right. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04It uh it was literally maybe a five-second decision. He said, do it, I did it. If I would have waited six seconds, who knows what would happen, right?
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_04When he's telling you to do something, you'll know it. If you get in your word, if you you have a relationship with him. I love when people aren't in the word, they're not worshiping, they're not spending any time with him, and they're like, I don't know what God wants me to do. Like he might be saying that. Of course you don't. You can't discern that. But if you're walking with him, there'll be moments he's gonna give you that discernment. Some people have more discernment than others.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04I know that I'm the type of person I I that's definitely one of my spiritual giftings is I have discernment. He'll give you that if you but you have to be with him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Like it's it's not an exclusive club. Like he's not just picking certain people and being like, okay, I'm gonna reveal myself to them. But I used to think that.
SPEAKER_04I was like, he must only like me and the rest of y'all.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, sometimes I do feel like I'm his favorite, but that's a separate podcast episode. Um, but no, if you get with him, he will, if you draw near to him, he will draw near to you. It's really a done deal, like it's really not up for discussion. So if you're having a hard time, like you said, I would ask two questions. Are you in your word and are you in his presence? If the answer to either one of those is no, there you go. Because he's never gonna say anything contrary to his word, which is how you test. And I don't know about y'all, but if I call myself a friend with someone, I'm probably spending time with them. Because how do you know them if you don't? Could you imagine if we started this podcast and we know knew nothing about each other?
SPEAKER_02Never talked to each other before.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that would be so um stupid and also awkward and pointless, it probably wouldn't have lasted more than three episodes. So why do we have a different expectation of God? So, anyway, that's just where I'm at. So um, if God is saying anything to you guys about obedience that you'd like to share with us or anything that you took away from this, please drop it in the comments.
SPEAKER_04We would definitely love to hear you got anything else we now be obedient, and you will see the fruit of it.
SPEAKER_01I thought I should take it back. All right, guys.