Reluctance

Have you ever done something with a sense of reluctance? It may have been something someone asked you to do and you felt obligated. You consented and did what you were asked to do, but you did it with reluctance. Maybe you were given some instruction that was touted to be beneficial for you in some way. You felt pressured by the relationship of a friend or teacher or employer, so you complied and obeyed the instruction – at least for the moment – but only with reluctance. Or worse yet, perhaps someone seemed to be correcting you in an area that you didn’t think needed to be changed. Rather than stir up trouble or “make waves” you changed your behavior – at least in their presence – but the change was made with reluctance.

Most of the time adults are practiced at hiding their reluctance so that it doesn’t appear too obvious, but kids are not that skilled. As a young person I remember all the tools at my disposal that I could use to show my reluctance even while yielding to my parents or teachers. Some of the more effective ones were rolling my eyes, huffing loudly as I obeyed or (my favorite) moving as slowly as I could in accomplishing what was requested of me. Even though I was obedient, I was not a willing participant and there was some rebellious satisfaction in displaying that reluctance in spite of my coerced compliance.

In Old Testament faith that seemed to be the way most people approached “keeping the law”. They knew that God’s instruction was right and good, and they knew they needed to obey, so they did –  with reluctance. It was that attitude of reluctance that Jesus addressed so often in the lives of people He encountered, telling them that while they “kept the law” they missed the more important things like faith, mercy and relationship.

Still today, the Holy Spirit works hard to woo us to a willing relationship with God that frees us from the bondage of obligation to walk in the peace and joy of real submission. It is the willing sacrifice that carries the weight of effective witness and opens the way for God to work through our lives!

How exciting to be His people,

Pastor David Vanderpool