You know, there are just some posts that I don’t want to write.  There are some topics that the Lord impresses upon me, for personal reasons, that I don’t really want to share.  However, He won’t let this one alone, and I feel like I’m supposed to muddle through it in this public forum – like it or not.  So, today I set out to discuss mocking God.  Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

Perhaps I should start at the beginning.  For a (very) long while, I have struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, with regard to eating right, exercise and some physical (non-life-threatening) health issues.  Like many of us, I’ve made repeated attempts to alter my diet and be disciplined with exercise; some attempts met with victory, others not so much. However, of late, and as I’ve been heartily seeking God’s will for the next steps of my purpose during this season of life, He’s been steadily convicting me of my lack of discipline with my health.  None so much as while I was in San Antonio for Living Proof Live.
I wasn’t even going to go to that conference, but God impressed upon me that, not only was I to go, but I was supposed to ask Debbie Williams (an author and speaker from Texas) to go with me.  I only know Debbie through blogging, and very little, at that.  However, when I asked her (only after a few days of arguing with God), she said YES.  And so, we went.  I was excited to find out why God had us there together.  
God also worked out, at the last minute, for me to go to Lifeway’s Fully Loaded conference with Pat Layton (Lifeway author/speaker).  It was during her presentation about ministering to women in crisis, that she said something totally off the cuff.  
You can’t move to the next level, until you let go of the one you’re on.

She was speaking about how God was moving her to her next phase of ministry, and that’s what I thought He was saying to me, as well.  My mind was a whir, as I tried to think of what He was asking me to let go, so He could move me to the next thing.  And, then, it hit me: I had to let go of my bad habits, with regard to my health, or my body simply would not be capable of doing the work He had for me.  In short, He would not advance me to the next level, until I dealt with this one.  
The next day, I got in the cab with Debbie to head over to the LPL conference.  Out of the blue, she began to tell me about how God had convicted her about her health.  She had been burning the candle at both ends, getting no sleep and using caffeine to keep her going so she could make publishing deadlines and be ready for speaking engagements.  She said that God told her that she simply would run out of steam before her race was done.  I sat there, stunned, as I realized why we were supposed to be there together.
I came home with a new determination to get my act together, and, to be totally honest, it lasted about 20 minutes.  Change in this area comes HARD and SLOW for me.  I start to make excuses and begin to rattle off a veritable litany of justifications in my mind.  It has been a week of stops and starts.  Finally, during my quiet times of the last two days, the Lord has brought me two passages that have convicted to my core:
Yesterday:

Do not be deceived:  God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:7-9

Today:

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.  Proverbs 13:1

Because I seem to have a head that is hard as rock, God tends to repeat Himself for my benefit. He’ll string together the same word through different sources, so I’ll sit up and take notice. But, really, who wouldn’t take notice at being called a mocker – of God, no less!  
I looked up the word “mock” on an online dictionary, and this is what it says (emphasis mine):
mock     Audio Help   [mok] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation

–verb (used with object)

1. to attack or treat with ridicule, contempt, or derision.
2. to ridicule by mimicry of action or speech; mimic derisively.
3. to mimic, imitate, or counterfeit.
4. to challenge; defyHis actions mock convention.
5. to deceive, delude, or disappoint.

By not heeding God’s instruction, I’ve become a mocker.  I’ve shown contempt, I’ve challenged God’s authority over me and have defied Him, and, worse, I’ve given Him cause for disappointment.  Being a mocker, by definition, makes me an imitator of God – a person who thinks that my ways are better; that I can be my own god.


What I’ve found is that, while I may be trying to imitate God in my actions and exercising my own will over my life, being the “king of my own hill” is, in reality, synonymous with being the dweller of my own pit.  Thankfully, He doesn’t want me buried down there in punishment; His convictions are used for the very purpose of pulling me up out of my pit of self to be able to move forward, instead of wallow.  Our being mockers – imitators – of God, holds us captive, while being obedient followers sets us free to realize the fullness of God’s plan in our lives.

I don’t want to be a mocker.  I bet you don’t either.  If God is convicting you in an area of your life, then let’s let go of these things together, and let Him move us to the next level. Join me in following Him to freedom, because, thankfully, while we are convicted, we are not condemned.