“When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way!” These are great words from an old, familiar hymn for those of us who pulled hymnals from behind church pews. The subject is walking with the Lord, and the Bible is filled with real people who walked with God and how they encourage me.

Yet hectic schedules and busyness continue to nibble away at good intentions and Bible study that I know I must maintain to be an overcomer. I’ve had those wonderful mountaintop experiences when I’ve spent time in God’s Word and dined  on manna from heaven, or been obedient to His direction and walked in His light. The songwriter described it as glory spilling into our days. I couldn’t say it better.

“While we do His good will, He abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey.” Doing, trusting, obeying – three things the writer described as necessary for the abiding presence of God in our lives. Easy to list – not always easy to follow. There are some days that I begin without stopping to ask God’s itinerary for me that day – NOT bright for a child of God! The trusting can be difficult when I pray for a particular heart concern and there’s no evidence from physical observance that anything is happening. The third ingredient, obedience, appears to be easier than trusting until He points out a person I need to forgive or to ask for forgiveness.

“Trust and obey – for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Could that explain the reason for an occasional pity party that I attend? Is that the reason a large percentage of our society depends on medications to relieve depression and the pressures that surround them? Is trusting and obeying the secret to real joy? The songwriter is certainly convinced of that.

“Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but His smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt nor a fear, not a sigh nor a tear can abide while we trust and obey.” Now this is serious treatment for the “mulliegrubbs” of life – the shadows from financial dilemmas, deteriorating friendships, the clouds that arrive with hospital tests, the tears accompanying the cold companion of loneliness, the sighs over yesterday’s failures and disappointments, the fears that come when we read of terrorist attacks and child molesters, the doubts that point to an unstable economy or the future of a nation that accepts abortion and bans prayer in schools.

What a sad state we could sink into, but according the writer, it’s our choice to live under the circumstances or above them. To be happy in Jesus (while living in our world filled with shadows, clouds, doubts, and fears) we must trust and obey. The reasoning is elementary – there’s no other way.

 

Letters to Camille Anding can be sent to P. O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS 39601.