Do not measure obedience by visible fruit

In this episode, we confront a subtle but important mistake many believers make: measuring obedience by visible results. What happens when you know God sent you, yet the fruit is not obvious? Does the absence of outward success mean you missed His will?

This message brings healing, clarity, and stability to everyone carrying a God-given responsibility. Through Scripture and pastoral exhortation, we explore how to know you are still in the will of God even when outcomes are unclear: through the abiding presence of God, alignment with His Word, the inward witness of peace, a clear conscience before Him, and the grace to continue.

This is a timely word for servants, leaders, workers, and believers who need strength to remain faithful without using visible fruit as the final measure of obedience.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Obedience is not always validated by visible results. Sometimes the clearest proof that you are in the will of God is not what is happening around you, but what God is sustaining within you. A beautiful morning to you and welcome to today's podcast. My name is Mammy Dilly or Lorotoba. Friends, the Bible encourages us to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Today, a burden rose in my heart for Christians, especially for everyone to whom God has committed one responsibility or another. I trust that through this word, God will bring healing, clarity, and stability to you in the name of Jesus. Many believers wrongly judge the will of God by the success of what has been committed into their hands. Let me see that again. Many believers use the success of what they are doing to decide whether that thing is the will of God. We place too much emphasis on fruit when judging whether we have been obedient. Yes, there can be a relationship between obedience and fruit, but we must be careful. Jesus told his disciples to go and preach, but the same Jesus who sent them also told them that if people did not receive the gospel, they should shake the dust off their feet and leave. That means a person can be sent. A person can obey and still not be received. In that case, the absence of visible fruit does not mean disobedient. It does not mean God did not send the person. It does not mean the assignment was self-initiated. This understanding is important because many of God's people need healing in this area. There are things God has committed into our hands, and perhaps the kind of fruit we expect has not appeared in the way we imagined? That does not automatically mean we are outside the will of God. It does not mean we have run on our own. So the question becomes: if I am not going to rely on fruit, if I am not going to fix my gaze on visible outcomes, how then do I know that I am still in the will of God? Number one, the active and abiding presence of God. One of the clearest signs that a believer is in the will of God is this the person is not merely running with an idea, the person is walking in fellowship with God. Their life and actions are flowing out of communion, not ambition. Moses understood this deeply. In Exodus chapter 33, verse 14, the Lord said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. This is one of the ways a believer can know that he or she is in the will of God, not merely looking at results, but by the active and abiding presence of God. If all we use to determine whether we are in God's will is visible fruit, we will become carnal in our judgments. We will pressure others. We may even become harsh and impatient. But when there is true consciousness of God's presence, what we do begins to flow from communion with the Father. That matters in ministry, because ministry comes with demands. If we are not careful, those demands can push us into operating merely from responsibility. And while responsibility is good, it is not the highest thing. There is a higher level. That higher level is where what we do does not merely come from duty, where what we do does not merely come from pressure, where what we do does not merely come from expectation. It flows from communion. It flows from love for the Father and from an awareness of his love for us. This is also what makes compassion possible among workers in the house of God. When people are living from communion, they will treat one another with grace. But when communion is missing, everyone begins to function only from obligation. People serve because work must be done. People show up because of expectations, or because of the fear of consequences, or because of how they will be perceived. But there is a better way to serve from the place of active and abiding presence of God. Secondly, how do I know that I am still in the will of God? How do I know that I am still obeying the Father even without looking at visible fruits? Alignment with the Word of God. Another way we can know whether we are still in the will of God is by examining our alignment with the Word of God. God's will will always be consistent with God's word. A believer may feel strongly convinced about something, but if that thing opposes scripture, then it is not the will of God. God does not contradict himself. And 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 to 17 says, All scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. The word of God, friends, does not merely make a person informed. It makes the man or the woman of God fit, equipped, and furnished for every good work. So, if what you are doing is consistent with the word of God, there is a strong indication that what you are doing is consistent with the will of God. This is why our lives must not be lived outside the word. Our activities must be inspired by the word. The word of God must find a place in our hearts and spur us into action. Jesus said, The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and their life. The word of God must not remain in pages alone for us. It must not remain in pages alone to us. It must find expression in our lives, whether in our personal work, in our departments, in our fellowships, or among our friends. Whether it is the written word of God or the revealed word of God, it must find expression in us. When the word is finding expression in your life, you are not merely acting on emotion, you are moving in harmony with what God has said. Number three, how do I know whether I am still in the will of God without considering fruits? The inner witness. Or better still, the inward witness. A third way to know that you are in the will of God is the inward witness. This does not mean the path will be easy. In fact, sometimes doing the will of God is harder than abandoning it. Sometimes those who step away from God's will may appear to be doing better externally, and if you are not disciplined, you may even feel tempted to envy them. So, difficulty is not proof that you are outside God's will. There are times when the will of God is challenging, costly, stretching, and weighty. Yet, even in the midst of difficulty, there can be a deep inward peace and witness that God is in it. Romans chapter 8, verse 14 says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Colossians chapter 3, verse 15 says, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called into one body, and be ye thankful. Notice that Scripture speaks not only about leading, but also about peace. There are many times we become so focused on outcomes that we ignore the peace God is giving us. We become so occupied with how things will look externally that we fail to value the inward confirmation of peace. Let me share a simple example. Earlier we had a leader's prayer meeting in church. According to the roster, I was supposed to lead. As I was preparing, I began asking the Lord, What would you have me do? And inwardly I sensed the Lord say to me, Don't worry. Along with that, came a very unmistakable peace. I could not explain it, but it was clear. So I arrived prepared only to be told that the previous meeting had not held, and it will hold that day instead. And because I was not the one who was supposed to hold the meeting, I will not be leading. Immediately, I understood why the Lord said, Don't worry. Many times our eyes are fixed so strongly on the outcome that we ignore the peace God is already giving us. But that peace matters, it confirms, it steadies, it witnesses. Isaiah chapter 26, verse 3 says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusted in thee. When your mind is stayed on the Lord, he keeps you in peace. That peace is not decorative, it is directional. Number four, how do I know whether I am still in the will of God without considering fruits? A clear conscience before God. A clear conscience before God. Another way to know whether you are in the will of God is by having a clear conscience before Him. Now, let me add an important caution. This does not mean perfection. A clear conscience does not mean you have never made mistakes, it means you are not knowingly resisting God while trying to appear spiritual. It means that when you examine yourself before the Lord, you cannot identify a place where he told you to do something and you deliberately refused. When a believer is walking in the will of God, there is usually sincerity and honesty before the Lord. Acts chapter 24, verse 16 says, And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense towards God and towards men. Did you hear that? A conscience void of offense towards God and towards men. And 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 12 says, For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world. This is powerful, friends. A clear conscience becomes a testimony. Again, this does not mean flawless performance, it means there is no known disobedience being concealed beneath spiritual language. It means there is no internal resistance to what God is asking of you. This matters because sometimes resistance does not come in loud, obvious forms. Sometimes it hides behind tradition, sometimes it hides behind preference, sometimes it sounds like this. This is not how we usually do it. Now, I'm not saying we should permit disorder, but I am saying that God is dynamic. If we become too attached to only one way, he has moved in the past, we may find ourselves standing in the way of what he wants to do now. So, a clear conscience before God includes this humility, Lord. I do not want to resist you. I do not want my habits, my preferences, or my assumptions to stand in the way of your will. Rather, it is in the presence of divine enablement in the middle of those things. God gives strength to continue what He has ordained. There may be people carrying responsibilities right now who feel tired. There may be those who are stretched, burdened, and weary. But one proof that you are still in the will of God is that there is sustaining power for the journey. You may feel weak, but grace keeps showing up. You may feel stretched, but strength keeps coming. You may not understand everything, but there is still power to continue. That grace is not imaginary, no, it is the sustaining hand of God on the life of a person who is still working, walking in divine purpose. The boding today, my friends, is simple but weighty. We must learn to separate obedience from fruit. Many times, as believers, we judge whether we are in the will of God by outcomes, by visible results, by what people can see, by what appears measurable. But that is not always a safe or mature way to judge. The fact that there is fruit does not necessarily mean you obeyed God, and the fact that there is no fruit does not necessarily mean you disobeyed him. Even when you have obeyed, visible fruit may not appear in the way or at the time you expected. So, as children of God, as servants of God, as ministers, as workers, as leaders, we must grow into the maturity of knowing whether we are still in obedience even when fruit is not obvious. How do we know? We know by the active and abiding presence of God, by alignment with the word of God, by the inward witness of the Spirit, a clear conscience before God, and the grace to continue in the assignment. I pray for you this morning that God will heal you. God will heal his church in this matter. May He deliver us all from shadow measures of obedience. May He teach us to walk with Him, trust His leading, honor His word, follow His peace, maintain a clear conscience, and rely on His sustaining grace. And may we remain faithful, whether fruit is visible or not. Thank you very much this morning for listening to this podcast to the very end. I believe that you have been blessed. Please do well to share this message with someone who needs encouragement. Till I come your way again. My name is Bami Dilly or Lorna Toba. I wish you an amazing time ahead. God bless you.