On my bed night after night I sought him
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.
—Song of Songs 3:1, NASB

Reflection:
Obedience may feel costly, but disobedience is even more costly. When we do not obey, the Lord lifts His presence from us, not to punish or reject us, but because He is jealous for us. He wants the loss of His felt presence to be a catalyst to arise and follow Him.

Fellowship can be broken. Messiah Yeshua does not change His mind about us, but He is not going to allow us to experience the peace of His presence while we are leading a life of disobedience. We may grieve because the fellowship we enjoyed so much feels absent. We find we cannot have both our disobedience and His presence. The Lord disciplines us gently. But hear this: Jesus starts with as little discipline as He needs to get through to us, but if we do not respond to His presence lifting, His actions become more and more severe.

We see this in Revelation 2, when a woman called Jezebel set herself up as a prophetess in the church while living an immoral lifestyle. Messiah Jesus said He gave her time to repent, and she did not want to repent of her immorality. He was patient with her, but she did not yield to gentle chastening, so He warned her of less-gentle correction to come.

Beloved one, if we do not yield to the Lord in the areas of life where He is dealing with us, a stricter form of discipline will arrive. God loves us too much to leave us where we are.

Consider your own life right now. Is there a specific area the Holy Spirit has been putting His finger on, and you know you are in disobedience but still resist doing the right thing? If He calls you to surrender your finances to Him, release your finances to Him. If there are relationships the Lord wants you to reconsider or release, now is the time. If there are addictions or habits the Lord is calling you to forsake, do it immediately. Do not remain out of fellowship in the place of comfort and familiarity. The mountaintop awaits you, or so does greater discipline.

Sometimes we respond in a way that worked in the past but will not work now. We pray. On my bed night after night I sought Him. This is a picture of seeking after God. Praying is so critical. We must pray in everything we do, but there are times when prayer alone is not enough. We must also take action.

As followers of Yeshua, we will never come to a place where no more change is required. We are continually being transformed. God is always calling us to a deeper level with Him, and it will always involve some form of action on our part. Transformation takes time. God is not in the business of microwaving people into obedience. He takes His time because He wants true, lasting change in our hearts.

Application:

• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you have been praying but resisting the action He is requiring.
• Do not remain in comfort and familiarity when the Lord is calling you to surrender, release, forsake, and follow.

Prayer:
Father, I do not want to have both my disobedience and Your presence. Thank You that You love me too much to leave me where I am. Show me the areas where the Holy Spirit has been pointing, and give me grace to yield. Teach me to pray, but also to take action where You are calling me to obey. Strengthen my weak hands and feeble knees, and make straight paths for my feet so that what is lame may be healed.