I don't know about you, but when I was little I was incredibly stubborn. I loved to question authority. So when my mom told told me to do something, or gave me an answer to a question, I always had to know why. And like a mom, her common response was something along the lines of "because I'm your mother and I said so." That answer never sat well with me. If I didn't understand something it bothered me.

Now that I have become a Christian, I have found myself in a place of being given the what, and not the why. Often times listening to God means having a what without the why. And that can be really hard to swallow. Obedience is something I have struggled with my entire life. Doing what I'm told, when I'm told, because I was told to. It gets even harder to obey when you don't know why you have to.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Part of this plan is you following the path that He has laid out for you, a path involving obedience. The cool thing is that when it comes to God, obedience will always be the best choice. It will always lead you to joy and peace in the end.

Often times God won't tell you why He wants you to do something, but you still have that calling. It's your decision to choose to follow that or run away. Obedience can be hard, but it's something I learned really pays off in the end. We are commanded in the Bible to obey, but we still have free will to make that choice. Will you?