• Dreams
  • Faith
  • Identity
    • Deliverance
    • Gratitude
  • Marriage
  • Obedience
  • Pain
  • Parenting
    • Kids
    • Adoption
  • Prayer
  • Series
    • Hearing from God
    • Living Content
    • Royalty
    • The Lies we Believe
    • Walking in Obedience

Faith|Fullness

Where the journey of saying "yes" to the Lord, has lead me

  • Home
  • Meet Anna
    • Disclaimers
  • Blog
  • Books to Read
  • Contact

Stay connected and get all the latest

You are here: Home / Obedience / Obedient and Bitter OR Obedient and Choosing to Trust?

Obedient and Bitter OR Obedient and Choosing to Trust?

I had a different post planned for today but while I was listening to the message at The Stirring yesterday, I heard the Lord tell me to share this post instead. The reason I feel like it’s important to share this post, after finishing up the Hearing from God series, is because of something our pastor said yesterday. He was talking about the prophetic and how we speak the words of the Lord out of an overflow of our hearts knowing Him. People in the world need to hear the things God has put inside of us but often times we don’t share, either because of fear, bitterness, or because there’s too much noise in our lives and we aren’t paying attention to what God is doing around us.

The connection for me was made when I thought about this story I’m sharing today. I wrote this post months ago but I wasn’t sure when I’d end up sharing it but God told me to share it today because it’s this story, this moment in my life a few years ago, that snapped me out of a dark place and allowed me to hear God’s voice again, to see what He was doing all around me. It is this story that brought me out of a dark place and because of the words from my friend, I’m able to be here today, sharing out of the overflow of what God has put inside of me. Just as my neighbor spoke truth to me, I want to be here to speak truth to you, and because of his obedience, now I can be.

I hope you enjoy this story and I hope it speaks to your heart, and challenges you the way it challenged me, and changed my life. My hope and desire for you is that it would challenge you and allow you to look at the things in your life through God’s eyes, that you would be able to hear His voice and see how He is moving in your life, even when it feels like He has abandoned you.

***

I know I wrote the series Walking in Obedience (which if you haven’t read, you really should) but I wanted to rewind a couple years and share how my journey, and passion, for obedience got started.

A couple years ago, when things got really hard with our oldest daughter, my neighbor (the one that lives in the English Tudor – read that story HERE) put on a night of encouragement for us. The night was absolutely transformational for us, but the biggest thing I got was a word I got from her husband. I don’t think he meant the word to be convicting, but God used it to grab my heart and shift my focus back to Him.

Here’s my paraphrased version of what he said,

I’m reminded of the story of Jonah. God asked Jonah to go speak to the people of Nineveh, which he didn’t want to do. In the end, after he ended up being obedient, he was angry and bitter about it.

You’ve already been obedient to the Lord but you have a choice, do you want to end up being bitter about it, or do you want to choose joy, and see God’s hand at work, even though it’s not what you thought it would look like?”

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile now, then you know how important obedience is to me. God calls us to be obedient to Him no matter what happens, and I will guarantee that 99% of the time it’s not going to look the way we thought it would, or should.

Jonah did an incredible thing, he warned a city and saved over 120,000 lives but He was so mad about it.

This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: ‘Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.'” Jonah 4:1-3

What’s even sadder is the book ends with Jonah arguing with the Lord so we don’t know if he ever found Peace. Here he had done a great act for the Lord but his story ends with him throwing a temper tantrum at the Lord.

I’ve had a lot of conversations with the Lord about how I’m mad, and how I feel like it would be nice if every once in awhile people would just get what’s coming to them, but that’s not how God works.

I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” Jonah 4:2

As I’ve said before, we shouldn’t be upset about the way the present looks because we don’t see the whole picture, the way God does.

And seriously, do I really want what I’ve deserved countless times?

We have a choice – be obedient, or take the easy way out. If we choose obedience we have another choice to make – trust the Lord that He knows what He’s doing, or be bitter and angry because it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.

Which will you choose?

I can tell you that up until our night of encouragement, I was pretty bitter and angry with the Lord. I was mad that He was allowing us to experience such pain and that the pain was taking over. I was mad that He had asked us to adopt, knowing how much suffering it was going to bring us – I thought He loved me, why would He do that to me?

I was so bitter which is why, when I heard the word about Jonah, I was so convicted.

After our night of encouragement I decided to switch my “why me?” questions to, “what are you doing here, Lord?”. To look at each situation with a different perspective, to try to understand the bigger picture.

This perspective shift changed my life.

When we say "yes" to obedience, we do what God asks us to do, but then we have to turn around and give it right back to Him, and trust Him with the outcome. If we try to hold onto it, and control the outcome, that's when we start to get mad that it doesn't look the way we want it to. If we give it back to the Lord and trust Him with the outcome then we don't have to carry the burden, because it's not ours to carry. | Faith-Fullness.net

By choosing to trust the Lord, instead of being bitter and angry with Him, it allowed me to rise above the suffering.

Things with our situation didn’t get better, in fact they only got harder, but I didn’t carry the pain anymore. God showed me that when we say “yes” to obedience, we do what He asks us to do, but then we have to turn around and give it right back to Him, and trust Him with the outcome. If we try to hold onto it, and control the outcome, that’s when we start to get mad that it doesn’t look the way we want it to.

If we give it back to the Lord and trust Him with the outcome then we don’t have to carry the burden, because it’s not ours to carry.

I can tell you from experience, it’s not always easy, in fact sometimes it’s really hard. But I can also tell you from experience that when we trust the Lord, He begins to entrust with even more. I 100% guarantee you that if I hadn’t had an attitude change on that night years ago,  I wouldn’t be here today, writing this blog. My husband and I chose to rise above the pain, trust God with what He called us to, and because of that He has blessed us, and trusted us with so much.

I am so incredibly thankful, and forever indebted to my neighbor for his words.

Where are you at in your walk with the Lord? Are you bitter and angry like Jonah, and like I was, or have you chosen to trust the Lord, even though you don’t understand, and your situation looks different than you think it should?

Faith-Fullness.net

If you missed it, CLICK HERE to check out my 6 part series on Walking in Obedience. If you missed my 5 part series on Hearing from God, you can find it HERE.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Share on Facebook Share
Share on TwitterTweet
Share on Pinterest Share
Send email Mail
Print Print

Filed Under: Adoption, Obedience 6 Comments

« Hearing from God: Did I Hear Wrong?
Not a Pyramid but the Center of a Mobile »

Comments

  1. Bethany says

    March 27, 2017 at 8:57 am

    Wow, thank you for sharing this. I’ve been dealing with my own bitterness and anger.
    I’ve got to the point of actually facing it and God has healed a lot of it already.
    It is really helpful to know others in my life have already walked through and hat valley.

    Reply
    • Anna says

      March 27, 2017 at 8:59 am

      I’m glad the Lord has already walked you through a lot of healing but let me know if you ever want to talk. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jim says

    March 28, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    Yes Anna…so good!
    The work to switch up that question “Why me??!” too “What are YOU doing here?” is so important! I think it is really critical to growing spiritually or stalling out. For me…when I stay in the “Why me?” phase I get stuck and self pity sets in. One time God asked me if I was “done with the pity party” that I had been throwing…no one was attending that party! lol!
    Good word here Anna…thanks for expressing it so wonderfully and giving it away!
    Jim

    Reply
    • Anna says

      March 29, 2017 at 8:19 am

      Haha, I love that God asked you that. 🙂 Thank you.

      Reply
  3. Linda Miller says

    March 30, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    Lots of “life” had happened to me, as you know. I know how it can set me on a wrong road, Thankfully, God is always there to remind me that I am not alone and I have a very loving, forgiving God in my heart and mind. It’s hard when I start to read one of your blogs with “Obedient” in the title. It sets me on the “why” Lord? I was obedient, following your Word when “life” hit me like a boulder. But I am again reminded that if I didn’t have God in my life, heart, the things that happen in “life” would still happened and then where would I be. I would be bitter, angry, depressed and sad all the time. But I do have God in my life and he comforts me, tells me the truth and leads me to the “green pastures” in the Bible where I can find food, water and rest. Obedience keeps me knowing God is with me always.

    Reply
    • Anna says

      March 30, 2017 at 3:20 pm

      Wow, Linda, that is SO good, and such a great perspective. Whether we have God or not, “life” does happen because we live in a broken world but I would rather be on this side of things with hope and truth. I think you should write a book about your story and everything God has shown you through it!!! I would definitely read it. 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Anna

Hi, I'm Anna! Wife, mother, child of God, and the founder of Faith|Fullness. The pages of this blog are filled with my journeys of faith and the adventures that saying "yes" to God have taken me on. Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Don’t miss a post

Popular Posts

If we truly want to encounter the Living God, we can't put expectations on Him. Sometimes God's voice will sound like thunder, sometimes it will sound like a gentle voice, sometimes it might even look like a sunset. God is speaking all the time and He truly wants an encounter with you, we just need to tune in, will you be "listening"? | Faith-Fullness.net

Hearing from God: Changing our Language

Hearing from God: Making Space to Hear from God

Categories

  • Adoption (6)
  • Deliverance (3)
  • Dreams (5)
  • Faith (20)
  • Gratitude (2)
  • Identity (19)
  • Kids (6)
  • Marriage (5)
  • Obedience (10)
  • Pain (10)
  • Parenting (7)
  • Prayer (4)
  • Series (36)
    • Hearing from God (5)
    • Living Content (10)
    • Royalty (6)
    • The Lies we Believe (9)
    • Walking in Obedience (6)

Meet Anna

Hi, I'm Anna! Wife, mother, child of God, and the founder of Faith|Fullness. The pages of this blog are filled with my journeys of faith and the adventures that saying "yes" to God have taken me on. Read More…

Find me on Instagram – @anna_m_moseley

anna_m_moseley

anna_m_moseley
It’s this beautiful girl’s birthday today and It’s this beautiful girl’s birthday today and I couldn’t be more proud of who she has grown into these last 12 years. My favorite thing about her, is her heart; believe it or not, she’s even more beautiful on the inside than on the outside. She loves hard, gives generously, champions her friends and encourages effortlessly. She is someone I admire, and watching her, continually challenges me to be a better person. We love you Malea Elizabeth. Happy 12th birthday! 🥳💜🤗
I love Thanksgiving. 🦃 Even in this chaotic, I love Thanksgiving. 
🦃 
Even in this chaotic, pandemic year, we still have so much to be thankful for. Yesterday we spent the day with family, did our own 2 mile Turkey Trot, cooked all day, and then feasted all night. 
🦃
I’m thankful for our home, and that we got to host our first Thanksgiving there, I’m thankful for our health and I’m thankful that we have so much to be thankful for. Blessings to you and your family this holiday weekend.💛
Eleven years of pumpkin patch adventures with this Eleven years of pumpkin patch adventures with this cutie. I can’t believe how quickly time has flown, but I love watching her grow and doing all sorts of fun adventures with our little family. 🧡🎃🧡
Meet Maverick. He’s the latest addition to our f Meet Maverick. He’s the latest addition to our family after @mmoseley15 texted me a picture of 5 kittens found at the bank this morning (scroll to the end to see). Malea is in love, and total shock, and we’ve all had lots of kitten snuggles today. The plan is to have him me an outdoor, eat the pests, kind of cat but we’ll see how snuggly he ends up being. He might just win us over and be our new favorite. #MavericktheKitten
First day of 7th grade! I am excited for Malea to First day of 7th grade! I am excited for Malea to be back at school today but I am also going to miss her. These past six months have been such a blessing from the Lord. There were definitely days we both needed our space but the majority of the time we learned and grew so much from each other, and laughed along the way. I am proud of the young woman she is becoming and I can’t wait to see how much more she grows this year. 
📝
Happy first day of school!!! (We’ll see how long it lasts).
📝
Trinidad Day 2- A hike through ferns and redwoods, Trinidad Day 2- A hike through ferns and redwoods, Big Lagoon Beach, sunny skies and beautiful fog in the distance, Moonstone Beach, barre at the beach, chasing waves and bunk bed chats. Today was the best. #trinidadcalifornia #tralierlife #trailerlifeisthebest #showmeyourstrength #barreblend
Trinidad day 1- I love the ocean so much. I love t Trinidad day 1- I love the ocean so much. I love the sounds, the constant crashing of the waves, my feet in the sand, watching kids be kids and running in the waves, I love everything about being at the ocean. Our first night in Trinidad was awesome, we played at the beach, saw a gorgeous sunset, celebrated a birthday, watched part of a movie, then had mom and dad time by the fire. Trailer life, mixed with ocean life, really is the best. 
🌊 #trailerlife #trinidadcalifornia
More pictures from this weekend because I just lov More pictures from this weekend because I just love this place so much, I wanted to share. 😉
My happy place. We love our trailer but once a yea My happy place. We love our trailer but once a year we pack up the tent and head up to the Trinity Alps for a fun filled weekend. The last 3 days were spent unplugged, laughing harder than I have in a long time, floating in Canyon Creek with a drink in hand, hiking 8 miles to jump off a waterfall, watching the kids tube down the rapids for hours, eating amazing camp food, and generally just being so thankful God created such a beautiful place for us to enjoy. I’ve always loved camping at this spot but this year I decided it’s my happy place because every year I look forward to our few days there, our escape from reality, our peaceful slice of Heaven that we get to enjoy with friends. 
#camping #trinitynationalforest  #canyoncreek #thankful
The last two days of our trip were spent with my s The last two days of our trip were spent with my sister, and her family, in Truckee, CA. It was two great days of relaxing, cousin playtime, kitten snuggles/playing, ripsticking down big hills, lounging on Donner Lake, the girl’s paddle boarding and kayaking, and of course life lessons like - how to blow up your own floaty, and how to chug champagne when you’re wearing a mask😆. We are headed home today but after 2 weeks of traveling I’m not quite ready for it to end, with the exception of Boulder City, this trip has been near perfection. Now to plan, and look forward to, next summer’s big trailer trip!!! #truckeecalifornia #donnerlake #moseleyrvtrip2020
Day 10 - Bodie. Before leaving Bridgeport we heade Day 10 - Bodie. Before leaving Bridgeport we headed over to Bodie, a huge ghost town where homes, hotels, stores, and even the school have everything left in them, just as they were back in the early 1900’s. This was such a cool experience to step back in time and walk through this old mining town. 
#bodiecalifornia #ghosttown #moseleyRVtrip2020
Day 9 - More from Bridgeport. We love it here, wis Day 9 - More from Bridgeport. We love it here, wish we had a couple more days to explore the surrounding beauty, watch the incredible sunsets and relax with this killer view from our trailer. 
#bridgeportcalifornia #moseleyRVtrip2020
Day 9 - Bridgeport. This place has so much beauty! Day 9 - Bridgeport. This place has so much beauty! The girls played on the beach at the RV park this morning, @mmoseley15 went on a trail run, we spent a couple hours on the beaches of Twin Lakes, which is definitely one of the most stunning places we’ve been so far, then we finished off the afternoon with the girls playing in the water back at the RV park. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this place before, this is definitely a “must come back to” stop for us! #bridgeportcalifornia #moseleyrvtrip2020.
Day 8 - More from Bridgeport. I know I posted some Day 8 - More from Bridgeport. I know I posted some yesterday but I had to share these too. This place is so beautiful! 
#bridgeportcalifornia #moseleyrvtrip2020
Day 8 - Bridgeport. We got up early and headed out Day 8 - Bridgeport. We got up early and headed out of Beatty before it could get over 90. We spent 4 hours on the road today, which was our longest since day 2, but it was so beautiful! NV to CA, back to NV, then landing in CA. We saw everything from the “Loneliest Highway”, to a bull in the middle of the road, some of the highest mountain peaks of the trip, to the stunning Lake Mead. The trip went by quickly because the views were incredible and the girls were amazing. And when we pulled into Bridgeport, it did not disappoint. 30 degrees cooler than Boulder City, incredible views of the mountains, warm swimming water for the girls, and a beautiful thunderstorm. We are looking forward to a full day of relaxing, swimming, and maybe even boating here tomorrow. And the best part is, the high is supposed to be 85 degrees. 🙌🏻
#bridgeportcalifornia #moseleyrvtrip2020
Day 7 - Beatty. This day started out as a HUGE bum Day 7 - Beatty. This day started out as a HUGE bummer. We woke up in our air conditioned hotel, only to find out that someone had stolen @mmoseley15’s mountain bike out of the back of our truck. I don’t know if you’ve ever had something stolen but it feels so violating to have your stuff taken, not to mention the cost to recoup such an expensive item. 😭 So with heavy hearts we got ready then walked down the street to have a delicious breakfast at the famous @theworldfamouscoffeecup. From there we packed up and drove to the middle of nowhere, Beatty, Nevada. Our RV park was great but still being 109, the trailer struggled. Fortunately the girls did amazing and hardly complained about the heat, instead they spent the day inside playing games and putting together puzzles. The highlight of the day was getting to visit the ghost town, Rhyolite. I’ve always wanted to visit a ghost town so even though it was hot, it was super cool. 
#rhyoliteghosttown #beattynevada #moseleyrvtrip2020
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Looking for something?

Find Posts by Month

Copyright © 2021 · Faithful theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2021 · Faithful Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in