It’s the word that fills children with dread. And if we’re honest, we adults can feel the same. We have a Father who wants our obedience, but we just find it so hard.

As I read and studied Acts 21 for our women’s Bible study at church, I couldn’t help but be struck by the obedience of Paul in his journey to Jerusalem, and how he mirrored the obedience of Jesus as he made his own journey to Jerusalem years earlier.

I pinpointed three lessons in obedience from this chapter, things learned from Paul that God had also been teaching me in my own life:

• Obedience has obstacles.
• Obedience requires submission.
• Obedience involves hardship.

If you’re interested in hearing more about those, you can watch my teaching (linked below). These three lessons, just like obedience itself, don’t sound super fun, but we can find joy in obedience when we realize it is for our good, and we’re not left to do it alone. Just like Paul, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey in everything God calls us to. Let that encourage you in whatever situation is requiring your obedience today.