Reflecting upon the first few months of 2019, I am pleased with how my life is unfolding. There have been ups and downs, peace, and sometimes humility. But in the midst of everything, I am learning to be content.

As I become satisfied with life, I must admit that there are areas in my life where I am still extremely uncertain and disappointed. I sometimes ponder questions like why, will it ever work out, or am I good enough?

I know I am not the only person who feels like this. We have our moments when we all feel like everything is working together for our good, but at the same time, it isn’t. It feels like God is calling us to be great in one area of our lives, but in another, we feel stagnant or like we’re falling short.

I desired an explanation to this — the feeling like we are falling even when we know we’re rising. The answer drove me to deeper prayer and reading of God’s Word. In my time of meditation and study, the word disobedience arose as a possible explanation.

Ultimately, God wants to do something amazing for us and through us. But it won’t happen until we let go of our own desires and selfishness.

If we would be honest with ourselves, many of us are like Pharoah, the Egyptian leader who was arrogant, stubborn and often controlling. Sound like you by any chance? I know I get like this from time to time.

There came a point in the book of Exodus when God called Moses to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. God was gracious enough to send Moses to speak with Pharoah about releasing them from bondage. Did Pharoah listen at first? Absolutely not.

The Lord gave Pharoah multiple attempts to let his people go, and sometimes Pharoah relented. But his self-seeking and possessive ways would not allow him to honor the right decision, so he went against his word and continued to hold the Israelites hostage.

Because of this, God caused Pharoah and the Egyptians to go through plagues. The more disobedient Pharoah was, the worst the plagues became. Some were extreme — thunderstorms of hail and water, darkness for three days, even a vast amount of lice roaming the area.

But the worst one was the last plague. God allowed for every firstborn in Egypt, including Pharoah’s child, to die. It was then Pharoah understood that he couldn’t be selfish with God’s people any longer; he knew that it was time to let them go.

Unlike Pharoah and the Egyptians, we are fortunate because God is so merciful in His grace. God gives us multiple opportunities to get right with Him, even when we don’t want to listen at first.

Our plagues may not be as extreme as what the Egyptians experienced, but what if your feelings of stagnation and falling short is the plague that God has placed over your life?

We are living vessels with so much potential, but our flesh can cause us to be lazy, inconsistent, fearful, unreliable, selfish and ultimately, disobedient.

Perhaps God is calling you to be something amazing in this world — a preacher, scientist, architect, or doctor. But how will it ever come to pass if you keep getting in the way?

We have to drop everything that isn’t like God, and allow God to be the Lord over our lives. We have to truly be obedient to His perfect plan and that will get us to our destiny.

Today’s prayer:

 God, help me to be more obedient to who you are calling me to be in all areas of my life. Amen