JUNE 17 "HARD TO LISTEN TO LEADERS"

I have been in this situation more than once! I have learned over the years be careful about coming all humble to your leader, asking them what you should do and then walk away and don't listen because you think the advice they gave you is crazy.  You walk away wondering, "why did I even ask, that's the last time....he's crazy if he thinks I'm going to do that". Obadiah runs into somewhere he really admires, Elijah! However, once his excitement wears off, Obadiah is wishing he had not run into Elijah! What can I do for you, anything my leader.  Elijah asks him to go get Ahab and tell Ahab he wants to meet with him.  Obadiah is outraged at the position Elijah is putting him in. "Why are you asking me to do this, you want me killed?".  And of course we know that Elijah wants Obadiah killed, right?  Well obviously "no", Obadiah is a good man and Elijah knows that, but sometimes it does seem like our leaders don't care about us, they only care about what they want. "You just want to meet Ahab, well how about if it costs me my life?" and Obadiah begins to tell Elijah how he has served God from his youth and the good he has done for God and Israel. Elijah does not change his request, "go get Ahab for me". The relationship between disciple and Pastor is a difficult one. In the world if you don't agree with your leader you tell him where to go or just ignore him.  Not to say people don't do this in the Church with their leaders, but in the Church, it can hinder your growth as a Christian and hinder what God wants to do, in and through your life.  The events that transpire because Obadiah did listen, are pretty amazing. It's one of the classic victory stories of the Bible. Obeying someone who doesn't think like you is very hard!!! However, it's not just our leaders that don't think like us, God doesn't think like us. "My ways are not your ways, neither are my thoughts your thoughts" says the Lord.  As a Christian, certainly as a disciple, you will never get anywhere, until you learn to obey and do the things that don't make sense to you. Obadiah proves his true faith, his true allegiance to God, by risking his life, to obey this man. Esther did the same, Moses did the same and many others through out history. Ever gone to a spiritual leader and/or Pastor, asked, "what can I do or what should I do?" and walked away disillusioned by the whole experience and did nothing? If you're looking for a reference point as to where your growth stopped or where you began to regress as a Christian, you may find that it traces all the way back, to your Obadiah/Elijah encounter with your leader, the difference is, Obadiah obeyed and you did not.

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