I am not married, but I am in a miraculous season of life where I am prayerfully headed in that direction with a man I love. If the Lord has marriage for a woman, there comes a point where she leaves her family, roommates, and cozy 1-bedroom apartment, and she takes up residence with her husband. Marriage is a beautiful and complex experience of two people coming together, choosing to trust their spouse wholeheartedly based on what they have witnessed in dating.
A Willing Obedience
In John 14:23, Jesus states “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him.” I find that Scripture so deeply comforting.
Faithfulness leads to trust, which leads to a willing obedience. In God’s Word, we witness His faithfulness on every page. I want you to pause and ask yourself: Do you love and trust the Lord in order to walk in willing obedience to His Word?
Whether you’re married and taking up residence with a spouse or single and taking up residence with a family member or friend, it likely means you have spent a lot of time with them, and it hopefully means you love and trust them. If you don’t love and trust the people you decide to take up residence with, it’s going to make for a difficult living environment.
Jesus says in John 14:24, “The person who does not love me does not obey my words. And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.” This shows that if there is no love for God in your heart, you will be unable to trust Him and obey His Word, which prevents Him from taking up residence with you.
A Loving Trust
As you’ve been studying what it means to abide in Jesus, you’ve learned that abiding in Him means to stay connected to Him and bearing fruit in His name. For me and all of us, one of the main ways we can stay connected to Jesus is through spending time reading the Bible.
How will we be able to trust the character of God and willingly obey His Word if we don’t know who He is and His will for our lives? Scripture reveals over and over again God’s faithfulness. The truths God’s Word should lead us to drop to our knees in prayer and worship and trust in His sovereignty.
For me, making the decision to take up residence with the man I hope to marry will mean moving 1,200 miles away, far from what has been familiar to me for 34 years. But, coupling what I’ve witnessed of God’s character in His Word and His loving hand in my life, with my significant other’s heart for the Lord and me throughout dating, it makes it easier to willingly (and joyfully) walk forward with a trusting faith.
Has the Lord taken up residence in your life due to your love for and trust in Him? If that is a concept that is hard to imagine, I want to challenge you to seek out the words of Scripture so that you can become more acquainted with your loving and compassionate (Exodus 34:6-7) Father in heaven.
God loves you so much. I pray that through His Word and His sovereignty in your life that you’re able to love, trust, and willingly obey Him from this day forward.
