Obadiah 1:3 - Summer of Scripture

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Welcome to Summer of Scripture on the Naked marriage podcast. For 66 days in a row, we are releasing a daily devotional episode for your marriage. And over these 66 days, we're going to pull out one scripture from each of the 66 books of the Bible and talk about how it applies to your marriage. So if you listen to every single one of these episodes, you're going to have a comprehensive understanding of God's plan to for your marriage. We encourage you to listen to everyone. Let's dive into today's Scripture. Welcome to day 31. We're in the book of Obadiah today, which is a fun name to say.

I just love that name.

Obadiah, Obadiah. We need to bring that back.

I know.

Obadiah, Chapter one, verse three says you've been deceived by your own pride because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. Who can ever reach us up, way up here? You ask boastfully. So that might seem kind of like a random verse, but here's why we landed on that today. One of the themes throughout Scripture is God wants us to be dependent on Him. And I think especially in our modern culture, in our modern world, there's almost this God of self reliance that we're taught to have, that my whole goal is to live in a rock fortress way up high on the mountain where no one can get me. And that rock fortress can mean, like, financially I'm totally secure. I've got the house I want, the neighborhood I want, I've got the education that I want, I drive the car that I want, or I'm working towards those things. And once I get those things, then I'll be secure. Then I will have made it. And that's how I'll know that I'm a success. And God wants us to know, like, listen, nothing wrong with having those things. But you can't let those things have you. Like, your identity is not built on those things and your security is not built on those things. Because you can have everything in the world going right. You could have billions of dollars in the bank, and you could still die in an instant, and it'd be out of your control. And so instead, we need to hold onto things a little more loosely. Yeah, it's good to have a plan. It's good to, you know, to have a financial plan, even, and to have financial security. But our ultimate security comes from God. And that's what he's reminding us of in this verse.

Yes. I was actually having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day, and in this family, you know, they have a son who is nearing grad. And she said she started noticing that the son was just kind of becoming very insular and a little withdrawn and just seemed like under a lot of pressure and not really talk. He was one who would talk to them a lot. And he kind of was retreating to his bedroom. And so she said one day, they were like. The husband and wife went to this kid, and they were like, we need to. What's going on? Like, we're worried about you. What's going on? And he. With tears in his eyes, he said, well, he goes, dad has this very specific plan for how the next year or two is supposed to go. And I'm doing my best to fulfill it, but I just think, like, well, what if this falls apart? And the dad was like, you know, like, I was talking to the mom about this, and the mom said, you know, listen, sweetie, more than anything, like, you know, we love you. We love you. And she said that her husband is so driven and very, like, plans are everything. And for a while, and this kid had been trying to kind of tell the dad, like, he was giving hints to the dad that really he just wanted to hear, yes, follow the plan, but I love you kind of thing. But the dad, it's like, he's so driven and has this plan that he. That just was lost on him. Okay. And so in this moment, though, he realized, like, my son, you know, he needs to know that he. I love him more than I love this plan for him. Okay?

Right. And even if he ends up taking a different plan.

Exactly. We're gonna love you. Right. Even if it totally bombs and falls apart and your life looks nothing like this plan. I love you, son. And I know that God is greater. And so in this moment, he heard that. And she said the relief that washed over her son's face was just like. You could literally see it. And she said, he's been a different kid ever since then. And I just Thought, man, I think that we can learn so much from that. And I feel like these verses apply to that because I do think that so many times we're like, if I just follow this plan, even like in Christian culture, sometimes it's like, well, I just have to follow these Christian, you know, the principle. And for example, we hear this a lot. Like, if I. If I just wait to have sex before marriage, then my sex life, my marriage is going to be great. I'm going to have a thriving future. It's all going to work out. And they do it like they. Which is awesome. Like, definitely wait to have sex. You know, don't try. Try not to do that. Like, that's.

But then their sex life has.

But then their sex life's not what.

They thought it would be, as magical as they thought it'd be.

And they're like, wait a minute.

And then they feel like God let them down, right? Because they made this deal with God that God wasn't in on. But like, God, I'm going to do this and you're going to respond by blessing me in this very specific.

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I mean, not having any issues. Yeah, right.

But the truth is we do the right thing just because it's the right thing. But instead we do things, I think, to try to control, even sometimes, how we approach God. It's almost like this formula. If I follow this specific formula, then God is obligated to do this, this, this, and this for me, instead of it just being this relationship where God just wants us to love him and do life with him. And instead we treat God like he's this genie in a bottle. And if we rub the lamp just the right way, then he has to do things for us because we all have a desire, an unhealthy, sinful desire to control unhealthy ways. And that's what this verse is really speaking to, that like we, when we're motivated by Control, trying to control the people in our lives, trying to control all the circumstances around us, then really what we're not in that beautiful dependence on God which is part of faith, is as strong as we can get in our own strength. We still have such a childlike dependence on our heavenly Father. And there's a beauty in that. There's a beauty in resting in that. And so I think today's verse could be a wake up call for all of us who struggle with being a little bit of a control freak or finding our security in things. What are those things in your life that if they were taken away, you would feel like your very identity was shattered? Is it that if all your money was gone? If it was that all of your health is gone? If it's.

Your kids didn't do a certain thing.

Your kids didn't do a certain thing, they chose a different path than the path you had for them. And it may be time to just kind of loosen the reins on that again, not compromise your standards for God's way that we're supposed to live, but let go of your need to control it in specific ways.

I think that's huge. And I'm one. I like a plan. Like, I get this. Like, this is something I've had to work on. I shared in an earlier episode for these, the Summer of Scripture episodes about how I went through, like, an identity crisis shortly after we were married because certain things didn't work out like I thought, because I had my identity wrapped up in it. And I even think as husbands and wives, for those of us that are that really like a plan which is not in and of itself a bad thing, we can really set ourselves up not only for huge disappointment in a reeling kind of situation, but also we end up hurting relationships. Like when we just have this tight grip on our spouse, on our kids, on whatever it is, that is not a healthy relationship. Like, literally, I've never seen that play out in a healthy way. Dominance. Cause it ends up being like, dominance. You know, Jimmy Evans talks about this in one of my favorite talks that he's done where he's like, you know, show me a marriage where one spouse was dominant over another spouse and let me know if it was healthy. And he has people raise their hands over this. Like, if people grew up in a home like that, a dynamic like that. And he's like, raise your hand if it was healthy. And literally nobody raises their hand like it's not healthy. Because it really comes from a place of someone wanting control. And so again, I think that the message here is we need to make sure God is our ultimate authority and that we also hold on to these things loosely. That doesn't mean that we don't have standards. It doesn't mean we don't have a plan. But we just say God. Ultimately, it's up to you. Like, I'm holding loosely because we know he's got us. Like, he's holding onto us. And as long as we understand that there's not this crazy fallout when things don't go our way and we're able.

To cope and we know that he's with us.

You're right.

And he's bigger than our plan, and his plans are not our plans. But his plans are perfect. Guys, I hope that encourages you today. Talk with your spouse. And I think this one could lead to some really good conversations. So thanks for tuning in. We'll see you tomorrow. Day 32 for the always eventful book of Jonah.

Oh, yes.

We'll see you then.