“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).
One time an internationally known minister asked me to pray about going to a country that’s known for its hostility to Christianity. I said to her, “Isn’t that where two American diplomats were killed three weeks ago?! Isn’t that a place where they shout, ‘Down with Americans’? Isn’t that a place where they will kill you for being a Christian?”
She said, “Yes, now let’s go.” My head said, Let her go if she wants to. The Lord hasn’t called me to be an evangelist; He called her!
When I prayed about it, and the Lord said, “Go,” I said, “Praise you, Jesus.” So I told my wife that the Lord told me to go, and I said to her, “You’re going to be praying for me while I’m gone, aren’t you?” My wife said, “Where you go, I go.”
I got my affairs in order. I knew that if I had missed God, I was going to be in trouble. But the blessings listed in Deuteronomy 28 are for those who diligently and continually do what God says to do. Obedience means you do what He says even when your natural mind doesn’t agree or understand.
When we arrived in the country, we were met by guys with high-powered rifles. Immediately, the devil said to me, “I’ve got you now. You’re dead. You aren’t going to get out of here.” I was thinking, I obeyed God, and this is what it got me.
Later when I got to my hotel room before the meeting, I said, “Lord, I have a wife and three children. I have churches that I pastor, Lord.” As I started praying, I heard the Lord say to me, “Being in My will is the safest place you could ever be.” That’s when I relaxed. I said, “Praise God, I’m safe.”
The upshot of this story is that in our obedience we had a tremendous meeting. Thousands of people were saved, healed, and delivered.
Today, I oversee over 15 churches in that country, and they are prospering. And I was safe in His will and supernaturally blessed as a result of obeying His command.
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
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Keith Butler has been an ordained minister since 1974. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds diplomas from Canada Christian College and Rhema Bible Training Center.
He serves in ministry with the support of his lovely wife, Pastor Deborah L. Butler, and their children: Pastor Andre Butler (granddaughters Alexis, Angela, and April), Pastor MiChelle Ferguson and husband Pastor Lee (grandson Lucas), and Minister Kristina Jenkins and husband Pastor Joel (grandsons Andrew and Austin, and granddaughter Alyssa).