When Obedience Feels Uncomfortable

The Cost of Following Christ

Luke 9:23 NLT
“Then he said to the crowd, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.'”

Following Christ often sounds beautiful in theory.

But Jesus was very clear about something many of us would rather overlook: discipleship costs something.

In Luke 9:23 NLT, Jesus tells those who wish to follow Him that they must give up their own way, take up their cross daily, and follow Him. That invitation is not simply about belief. It is about surrender — the willingness to release control of our lives so that Christ can lead.

And surrender is rarely comfortable.

During this week of reflecting on Jael’s story in Judges, we see a striking example of what obedience can look like in an unexpected moment. Jael had no idea that history was about to place her in the middle of Israel’s deliverance. She was simply living her life when Sisera, the fleeing commander of the Canaanite army, arrived at her tent seeking refuge.

She could not have known that Deborah had already prophesied that the Lord would hand Sisera over to a woman. Yet when the moment came, Jael acted decisively. Her obedience became part of God’s deliverance for His people.

Jael’s moment reminds us that obedience often appears without warning. We do not always know when our faith will require something difficult of us. But when the moment comes, the question becomes the same one Jesus places before every disciple: Will we follow where God leads, even when the path feels uncomfortable?

Most of us will never face a moment as dramatic as Jael’s.

But the call Jesus gives in Luke 9:23 reminds us that every believer faces a daily cross.

Sometimes that cross looks like resisting habits we know pull us away from the life God desires for us. It may mean choosing patience instead of harsh words, integrity instead of compromise, or restraint when our impulses push us in another direction. It may mean surrendering control over our plans, our comfort, or our preferences.

These choices may seem small compared to the stories we read in Scripture. But they are not small in the life of faith.

Each act of surrender is a quiet declaration:
Christ leads, and I will follow.

Lent is a season that gently brings this reality into focus. It invites us to examine the places where we still cling to control and to ask what it would mean to lay those things before God. Not out of guilt or pressure, but out of trust.

Because the truth is that following Christ will always require something of us.

Yet what we surrender is never wasted. When we release our grip on our own way, we make room for God to work in ways we cannot yet see.

Jael did not wake up that day knowing she would become part of Israel’s story of deliverance.

But when the moment arrived, she responded.

And often, that is what obedience looks like.

Not perfect foresight.
Not complete understanding.

Just the quiet courage to say yes when God places the moment before us.

Sometimes the cross we carry is not heavy wood on our shoulders, but the quiet surrender of our will to Christ — again and again, day by day.

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Journal Prompts for Prayerful Reflection

Take a few quiet moments today to sit with Jesus’ words in Luke 9:23 (NLT):
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

Consider writing through one or more of these prompts:

1. Where am I most tempted to hold onto control right now?
Is there a situation, decision, or habit where surrender feels uncomfortable?

2. What might “taking up my cross today” look like in a practical way?
Not in a dramatic moment like Jael’s, but in the ordinary choices of this day.

3. Is there something God may be asking me to release in this Lenten season?
A habit, a fear, a distraction, or even a plan I am holding too tightly.

4. What would trusting Christ with that area actually look like?
Write a prayer asking God for the courage to follow where He leads.

Let this not be a moment of self-criticism, but an invitation to deeper trust. Every step of surrender is also a step closer to the freedom Christ offers.

Leona