This is part of my year-long series exploring human-centered alternatives to the spiritual promises in Oswald Chambers’ classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. Today’s entry, “The Will to Loyalty”, promises that believers can exercise their will to achieve complete loyalty to Jesus Christ, claiming that serving God is a “deliberate choice” that puts everything “on hold until you choose” and that God will “explain himself” to those who choose loyalty without consulting human beings.
Here’s what willing to be loyal without human consultation actually delivered:
“You must will to obey,” his spiritual mentor urged intensely. “Don’t consult human beings about this decision—it’s between you and God. Choose loyalty to Jesus, and he’ll explain himself to you. Put everything on hold until you choose to serve the Lord deliberately.”
David felt called to leave his engineering career and become a pastor. Despite his wife’s concerns about their family’s financial security and his own doubts about pastoral gifting, the spiritual framework seemed clear: dramatic loyalty choices demonstrated true commitment to Jesus.
David resigned from his lucrative engineering position. He wouldn’t “consult any human being” about this spiritual decision. His loyalty to Jesus required ignoring practical concerns and human counsel. God would explain himself once David demonstrated complete willingness to obey.
But the promised divine explanation was a cruel mirage.
Instead of clarity about God’s direction, David experienced mounting confusion and anxiety. His family struggled financially while he attended seminary part-time. His pastoral internship revealed significant gaps in his people skills and theological knowledge. The vision of ministry that had seemed so clear began to feel like self-deception.
Meanwhile, David’s colleague Sarah approached a major career transition with zero expectation of divine calling or loyalty demands. When Sarah felt drawn to educational work, she researched education careers thoroughly, spoke with teachers and administrators, volunteered in classrooms, gradually transitioned while maintaining financial stability.
Sarah’s decision-making process included extensive “consultation with human beings”—education professionals, career counselors, family members, financial advisors. She didn’t put everything “on hold” but made measured steps toward educational work while honoring practical responsibilities.
When David’s pastoral internship ended unsuccessfully, he felt like a complete spiritual failure. Had he misunderstood God’s will? Was his loyalty insufficient? His mentor suggested David hadn’t truly surrendered self-interest, but David knew he’d sacrificed everything for what he believed was divine calling.
Where was God’s explanation that was supposed to come through loyal obedience? Where was the divine clarity that choosing loyalty was meant to provide?
David’s breakthrough came when he stopped waiting for God to explain himself and started honestly evaluating his actual gifts and interests. He returned to engineering but found ways to serve others through technical volunteer work and mentoring young engineers.
His meaningful service didn’t require abandoning practical concerns or claiming divine loyalty. Sarah’s thoughtful career transition succeeded because she’d consulted widely, planned carefully, made gradual changes that honored both her interests and responsibilities.
Her loyalty was to sustainable service rather than dramatic spiritual commitment that ignored practical wisdom and family needs.
The silence where God was supposed to explain himself revealed the truth: there was no divine direction requiring loyalty choices that bypassed human consultation. Only thoughtful planning and realistic assessment that actually led to sustainable, meaningful work.
Reflection Question: When has careful consultation and gradual transition been more effective than making dramatic loyalty choices based on claimed divine calling?
This story is part of my upcoming book “The Undevoted: Daily Departures from Divine Dependence,” which offers 365 human-centered alternatives to the spiritual certainties in Chambers’ devotional. Each day explores how reason, community, and human resilience can address life’s challenges without requiring divine intervention.
God or Delusion? 