H7 Story: Faithful Obedience

Written by Sonya Higgs

During a recent Next Steps meeting a new attendee expressed specific interest in Habit 4: Pray and Study the Bible. She wanted guidance towards satisfying her spiritual hunger for God’s Word.

My first response was to ask “Do you have a Bible?”

She pulled one from her tote bag, held it up and said “I got this one from Catalyst.”

Boom.

I felt that lump of emotion in my throat that forms when I feel overcome with gratitude yet try to hold back the tears. I replied, “Good. That’s so good.”

After a couple seconds of silence, I directed her to the reading plan from the Bible tab on the FCC app and also shared a chronological reading option that I have used for several years.

She may have wondered why that short interaction provoked an emotional response from me.

A few years ago, God had allowed me to witness the generosity of a loved one who spent her last year on earth giving away Bibles and sharing the Good News of Jesus with anyone who would stand still. The joy that I saw through this woman’s faithful obedience prompted me to think about my own opportunities to share the gospel through word and deed. Since Catalyst is a ministry of FCC, that seemed like a natural place to leave Bibles for anyone who wanted to take a copy! Catalyst has been gracious to allow me to do so. I take a few minutes to write a note about God’s love and the page number to find out about it, for those who need guidance.

Sometimes I may get to see how He uses my obedience and sometimes I won’t. However, that Sunday morning Next Steps interaction was a sweet reminder from God that He is at work all the time.  

In 1 Corinthians 3:6-8, Paul shares this perspective: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.”

In a society that thrives on immediate gratification, faithful obedience means doing what is right even if you never see the result. Everyday boring faithfulness . . . what an exciting calling!”