A few years ago, I read a book by Joyce Meyer called Battlefield of the Mind, a great read about taking

our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

One of the lines from the book stuck with me even a half decade later: "Unbelief [in God] leads to

disobedience." When I thought about the quote for a while, I realized the opposite is also true: Belief [in

God] leads to obedience [to Him]. 

First, we must believe that God exists (Heb. 11:6). Second, we must believe that what the Bible says

about Him is true. One thing the Bible teaches about God is that He causes all things to work together

for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). If you don't

believe that God exists and knows what's best for you, you're probably not going to do what He says.

The Bible lays out a lot of "logical" rules for Christians, like tell the truth, don' kill people, and don't

covet your neighbor's stuff.

But what about when God asks you to do something unexpected or really difficult?

In the Bible, God asks people to do seemingly outrageous things quite frequently. For example: 

"Hey, Noah, I know you've never seen rain before, but spend years of your life building a giant boat."

"Abraham and Sarah, I know you’re too old to have children; but guess what, you'e going to have

children."

"Joshua, just have the people march around the wall seven times. That will do the trick."

"David, looks like you're the littlest guy! Go fight Goliath."

God will never ask us to do something that goes against what the Bible says, but He will sometimes

make requests that seem counterintuitive, are incredibly inconvenient, and/or are definitely not what

we want to do.

Recently, I've been asking myself this question, and I invite you to ponder the same thing. What has God

been asking me to do lately that by the world's standards—or simply by my standards—doesn't make

sense?

Could it be that God is testing our faith? Could it be that when we obey, He will increase our faith?

By Melissa Landon Schnell

Melissa is an editor at automation.com, a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, a cyclist, and a book

lover. She lives in Lexington with her husband Daykin, dog Zoey, and cat Scooter.