The Struggle to Follow

Obi groped around in the dark places of his heart, searching. He was used to the darkness and knew how to thrive in it. Now, he searched for meaning. He was ready to go past the surface and into the deep in his search for the Father. The old ways stopped working the day he saw his friend talk to God and receive an answer. He knew then, as he still knows that times had changed.
People had become God-seekers instead of pew fillers. Christians were waiting on God and seeing results. In their relationships with God, they were being changed from the inside out, like the caterpillar to a butterfly.
So, he started his journey, hoping and praying that God would see and hear him. He continued in his heart, as he lived daily, waiting for a word, a message, an acknowledgment. They were not the everyday prayers uttered in ordinary times. He prayed from his heart.
He prayed like the prodigal, wishing his father would see him from afar. He searched the scriptures for words, yearning for a connection, which would result in a map leading into the holiest place. Obi listened to great men and women of God preach and teach craving for a link, anything to guide him in the right way. He kept desiring to know and to see, putting one leg after the other in the hope that his legs walked a path. One the natural man would not see, but God’s Spirit would lead him on.
Sometimes, he felt like a lone wanderer, dried in the desert, seeking the water of life, afraid and unsure. Who could he tell, and what would he speak of? Who would help him understand the path of life?
Obi would cry like a child on his bed at night, seeking the face of the Father, through His Son. It was on one of those nights, when he cried himself to sleep, that light entered his room, filling it with dazzling brilliance. Obi sat up and couldn’t open his eyes in the blinding light.
“Open your eyes, Obi.” A soft voice in his heart said.
The quiet assurance strengthened him, and he opened his eyes. A man was seated at the foot of his bed, smiling.
“Who are you?”
“I am the one you seek, Obi, the source of this light.”
“Jesus.” Once the name left Obi’s lips, tears cascaded down his face, and peace settled in his heart.
He folded his legs under him. “I have been looking for you, Lord.”
The Lord smiled. “I have been right here, beside you.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened.”
“I want to be with you all the days of my life.”
The Lord smiled. “That is the Father’s plan. The Spirit was sent for that purpose, and the blood I shed made a way forever, into the presence of our God.”
Obi’s forehead furrowed. “Why does it seem difficult to find?”
Jesus looked at him, his eyes soft with compassion. “When I say follow me, people are wrapped under the cocoon of darkness and see impossibilities, instead of a way out of the dark. Every step taken in obedience to my word leads you out of the dark and into the light. The more you walk in agreement with me, the more you begin to live the eternal life.”
“How do we walk in the light?”
“By shedding your natural life daily. You need to give up the experiences you have known and the wisdom you have acquired so that you can start to live the life I died to offer you.
“Unlike a lot of people, I knew early on what I was on earth to do. I focused on it and grew into it, and when I was fully prepared, you know the story. People have a mental understanding of the call of God, but they do not seek to relate with Him for an understanding of who He is so that His life and will flows through them without effort.”
“How do I know my task on earth?”
Jesus stood. “Follow me. Ask the Holy Spirit for help and guidance. The blood will lead you into the presence of the Father. You have brothers and sisters who are walking the path, seeking God’s kingdom. Do not be afraid. You are not alone.”
Obi watched the Lord as he left the room, and the light dimmed into darkness, then he woke up.
Jesus! His heart cried. The Lord had been with him all along. Obi went on his knees and gave thanks, asking the Holy Spirit for help.
From that day forward, Obi understood he was meant to live a life of faith. Living in the supernatural he didn’t see, to birth seed in the natural for God. He understood day by day, the meaning of grace-the enablement to thrive sustained by God. He learned to obey after disobedience almost cost him his life.
He continued in the faith. He believed in God’s presence when there was no physical proof He was there. God’s grace continued to sustain him until he learned to abide in it, even when things seemed hard and more difficult in the natural. He listened to the counsel of the Holy Spirit when everything around him suggested he do things the opposite way and he prospered.
Obi waited for the day the Holy Spirit said was not far off. A day for the revealing of the sons of God.