After His Heart: A Look at Obedience

“A man after God’s heart.” Have you heard this before? 

If you’re familiar with David’s story, you’ll know he was a far cry from perfect yet held this descriptor. We see throughout his accounts that his life points to the need for Jesus—even a human whom God said, “would do everything I ask of him” would still fail...miserably. So how can David be both a sinner and after God’s heart? Can we be both of those? 

Being a woman who loves God, learns truth, and lives transformed requires a heart that is first humble before God and is also completely aligned with his heart. I’ll never forget the day I read Psalm 37:4, and the lightbulb went off. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Truly delighting myself in the Lord would result in my heart aligning with his—therefore, what I desire would be what he desires. 

And when thinking along the lines of obedience, this posture serves as the litmus test for whether or not we find ourselves after God’s heart or after our own—after God’s desires or after our own, after God himself or after success, comfort, approval, that fleeting moment of satisfaction, or the countless other pursuits that lure us away from true obedience.

Women (re)Purposed founder Alisha Illian, shared in a recent “Truth Be Told in 10” podcast that she and her husband tell their children obedience is doing the task “right away, all the way, and with a happy heart.” What a great explanation, right? 

Let’s think about what the Lord could ask of us—giving generously, ceasing a destructive behavior, not participating in an activity that is divisive or harmful, starting a ministry, reaching out to a friend, serving your family with joy (and not grumbling). We can obviously get specific here. Our heart posture toward God—the telling sign of whether or not we are after God’s heart—lies in how quickly we will respond to his call, if at all. 

Not long ago at a Christian conference, a speaker shared the truth that delayed obedience is disobedience. I have often been terrified of being disobedient, and yet, I know of the Lord’s abundant grace. But my fear isn’t in the consequences of disobedience, it’s in the state of which my heart sits. If I’ve fallen into a trap of continual disobedience or continually delaying that which the Lord has asked of me, it’s quite likely that I’ve put something else higher in my life than God. 

So how do we pursue obedience? How do we know it’s the Lord and not just something we’ve concocted in our own imagination? All valid questions. I discussed with Josephine Rose in the podcast episode on temptation just how sneaky the enemy can be. He knows the scripture well and can twist it in such a way that makes us question what we’re hearing. So what do we do? I’ll share a few action steps that will help us ensure we are being women after God’s heart—women who truly love him and aren’t afraid to ask “how high” when he says “jump.” 

The Work of Worship

Just as the verse in Psalm 47 says, we must delight ourselves in the Lord. How do we do this? No surprises from the ministry that has “girl, read your bible” on t-shirts and mugs—read the Bible! Friend, his word is alive and active, the truth and the light. The Bible helps us know our Savior because, without it, you’re not arming yourself with the freeing words of God but only getting bogged down by the world. Any and everything we should do needs to be measured against the word of God. But if we’re not hearing from God, getting to know him, learning his voice, understanding what he delights in and what breaks his heart, how will we ever know what we’re supposed to do? 

To answer the underlying question, our purpose in this life is to love God and love people. We often can get thrown off because the world wants to tell us we must “find our purpose” and “find our calling” but it’s not a lost answer. Jesus comes right out and tells us our purpose—to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). However, if we don’t understand that purpose, we will always question what we’re supposed to be doing. As we go throughout our lives, we are to love and worship our Creator and help others do the same. It’s what is written on every fiber of our being, but when we aren’t rooted in Truth, we will worship something else. No questions asked. Whether it’s ourselves, human opinion, success, relationships, titles; who or what we are obedient to is who we are worshipping. Who or what we are saying “yes” to has our heart. The work is being done, but is it intentional and eternally meaningful?

Our heart toward sin also impacts our obedience. Being after God’s heart doesn’t negate the fact that we’re human, but it does affect how we respond to our shortcomings. Yes, we will sin, but how we respond to those moments will show if we’re like King Saul who continued to justify his disobedience or like David who fell to the ground crying, “I’ve sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). David’s humility is plain to see. Is ours? Or do we justify our actions and continue on the path of destruction? No matter how “good” they may seem, if our actions aren’t aligned with the desires and commands of our God, they aren’t obedient. We remain after our own desires and pursuits.

Reverence toward God fuels obedience to God. You’ve likely heard the importance of “fearing the Lord” and think back to the God who opened the earth to swallow a group of people or struck down the man for stabilizing the ark of the covenant. You might think the God of the Old Testament appears different than the one of the New Testament. Not so. God is unchanging—he is still a God of righteous anger, justice, and judgment just as much as he is grace, kindness, and gentleness. These attributes all characterize God and are not mutually exclusive. God’s character remains fully complete and absolutely unchanging. 

But fear and reverence do not necessarily imply being scared. Fear of God stems from an awe of God—from staring long at his face to see him as both the author of all life and the Lord over our eternity. It comes from understanding the weight of our sin and the might of his saving grace. Understanding that water, which can both bathe an infant and capsize a great ship, a substance both astoundingly beautiful yet vastly terrifying, was created by the God who knows every hair on our head. Christ counted it as joy to enter into the world fully human, suffer a humiliating and painful death, then rise again in order that we may live forever in his midst, never having to experience life apart from God.

“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” - Oswald Chambers.

When we have a rightful fear and reverence toward our God and a rightful understanding of his grace and mercy, we fear no other created thing. Obedience will then flow.

Introspection reveals our motives and requires our obedience. When we are at the crossroads, the Lord will always give a way out of temptation and disobedience (1 Corinthians 10:13). So when we find ourselves at that crossroads—continue on in a gossip conversation, click the button, say the words, fail to make the call, lose our cool, choose social media over reading the Word, put off starting the group, delay the conversation—let’s ask ourselves why we’re making the choice? Whose heart are we pursuing, whose opinion are we elevating, and ultimately, where we are placing our trust?

Encouragement for the Fight

This can all seem really overwhelming and unattainable. Remember, perfection is never asked of us. As mentioned earlier, David was both a sinner and after God’s heart. The focus remains on our heart posture. Seek to know God more, love him deeper, serve him in all aspects of our lives, turn away from our wrongs, live in faith rather than fear, and care for his people in truth, love, and with patience. And truly live all of these out of great love and admiration of our Savior.

Part of living transformed is allowing the Scriptures to penetrate every aspect of our lives, especially the ones that feel uncomfortable. Often obedience to the Lord results in discomfort to the flesh, but that is where we are sanctified—made holier, made to look more like Jesus. This is how we become not only one who is after God’s heart, but one who is a mirror image of his. So the next time we’re faced with the chance to be obedient or not, to say yes to the Lord or ourselves, to be aligned with the Word or the world...let’s seek first his kingdom. Because even when it doesn’t make sense, goes against the grain of our culture, or is at war with our own desires, we can be sure that the Lord is good and that his ways are higher than ours. 

You’ve got this, friend, because he’s got you.