In this bold, no-fluff episode, DL the lowLIFE confronts the painful beauty of obedience to God, especially when it costs you comfort, pride, or control. This isn’t about checking boxes; this is about surrendering your will, your wounds, and your “why me” moments to a God who knows what He’s doing.
With raw storytelling and biblical insight, DL shows how obedience isn’t a one-time yes; it’s a daily death to self. And every time you say “yes” again, you get closer to the life God designed for you.
Topics Covered:
- What real obedience looks like in the Kingdom
- The pain of repeating hard assignments
- DL’s personal wrestling with surrender
- Why God tests our obedience
- The link between humility and trust
Subscribe. Share. Comment. Pray.
Show Your Support by Donating to The lowLIFE
Want to share your story or bring DL to speak?
Email: info@livingthelowlife.com
Text: 1-916-857-5770
*Want to be a guest on The lowLIFE Show? Send DL a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/thelowlifeshow
Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Low Life Show, a space where we have
conversations about thestruggles of life, where we
declare war on pride and walkhumbly into renewed living with
a surrendered heart.
Where we take our past failuresand turn them into a roadmap
for you to live in peace andliving the low life.
Whether you're working throughpersonal struggles or simply
(00:22):
seeking a fresh perspective,this podcast will inspire and
equip you to live low and letGod lift you up.
I'm your host, dl the Low Life,a reformed professional dirtbag
who's here to tell you that Inow live a life of peace,
transformed through humility.
Join me, let's get low what'sgood.
(01:20):
Welcome back to the Low LifeShow.
I am DL the Low Life, and todaywe're diving into a big part of
living low Obedience.
This one is rough.
I mean, we're human.
We are rebellious by nature,prideful, we love going against
the grain.
Pride tells us we are in charge.
You're not my dad, I don't haveto listen to you, to others,
(01:44):
and then when your dad sayssomething, you ignore him too.
Pride will always pass the buckand justify it.
Whatever it takes to live thatBurger King life and have it
your way.
How many of you were perfectkids, always listened, never got
in trouble, enjoyed chores Me.
I feel like I've always been introuble.
(02:08):
From my childhood up even tothis last decade, I was a
believer in rules are made to bebroken.
Thing is, if there are ruleslike literal rules, by the
definition of the word, theycan't be broken.
They rule.
To be a rule implies that it'ssovereign like God.
So we're going to say gettinglow is a rule and obedience is a
(02:29):
key that helps us get there.
Humility isn't just aboutgetting low, it's about staying
low, and staying low meanstrusting God's plan over your
own, even when it doesn't makesense.
Obedience isn't always easy,but it's always worth it.
So let's talk about whyobedience is a key part of
humility and why and how to takethat next step in faith towards
(02:53):
living a low life.
We'll begin today in Luke,chapter 5.
Now it happened that while thecrowd was pressing around him
and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the lake of
Gennesaret and he saw two boatslying at the edge of the lake,
but the fishermen had gotten outof them and were washing their
(03:14):
nets.
And he got into one of theboats, which was Simon's, and
asked him to put out a littledistance from the land and he
sat down and continued teachingthe crowds from the boat.
Now, when he had finishedspeaking, he said to Simon Put
out into the deep water and letdown your nets for a catch.
Simon responded and said Master, we worked hard all night and
caught nothing, but I will do asyou say and let down the nets.
(03:35):
And when they had done this,they caught a great quantity of
fish and their nets began totear.
So they signaled to theirpartners in the other boat to
come and help them.
And they came and filled bothof the boats to the point that
they were sinking.
But when Simon Peter saw this,he fell down at Jesus' knees
saying Go away from me, lord,for I am a sinful man, for
amazement had seized him and allhis companions because of the
(03:57):
catch of fish which they hadtaken.
And likewise also were Jamesand John, sons of Zebedee, who
were partners to Simon.
And and likewise also wereJames and John, sons of Zebedee,
who were partners to Simon.
And Jesus said to Simon Do notfear, from now on you will be
catching people.
When they had brought theirboats to land, they left
everything and followed him.
(04:28):
To me, this story is wild.
Peter had been fishing allnight.
No luck, not a fish, cleaninghis nets already.
I'd be frustrated.
I'd imagine he was too Losinghope.
I'd think.
Then here comes Jesus and says,try again.
Peter could have said, no, I'mgood.
But instead he obeyed and endedup with a catch so big it
(04:49):
nearly sank his boat.
If I was Peter I wouldn't havedone it.
I'd be like, look bro, I'vebeen here all night and got
nothing.
And I've been doing this tryagain thing and caught nothing.
Like we're good, I'm not doingit.
But Peter didn't do that, heobeyed and he got the haul of a
lifetime.
I'm not doing it, but Peterdidn't do that, he obeyed and he
got the haul of a lifetime.
This story illustrates exactlywhat obedience to God and living
low leads to A whole lot offish.
(05:12):
Mmm Sushi, just kidding.
Obedience leads to a morefulfilled life, one where
survival isn't a thing, you justthrive.
You experience riches.
This world doesn't value likeGod's blessing, and it sits just
on the other side of obedience.
Being obedient might look crazyin the moment, but it is always
(05:34):
worth it.
There will come a time whereobedience may look like doing
things differently than you'reused to, different from the rule
of thumb.
It might make zero sense, butremember, sometimes faith defies
logic.
So what does it take to fall inline?
(06:02):
Well, obedience requires trust.
You may not understand God'splan, but you have to trust Him.
He's the only one.
If ever it was going to be justone person, that's who you
trust.
Trust God.
Ask yourself this what does ittake for me to trust the people
in my circle, the ones Iactually do trust?
(06:22):
Consider that.
Consider how that came about.
Some of you might say I'd haveto see if they have my back when
it counts.
When things get rough, do theyrun or are they there standing
back-to-back to fight with me?
Others those of you who havedone time, like me, might have
found your trustworthy people inprison.
(06:43):
I've met a handful of folksthat wouldn't trust you if you
didn't do time.
They really test a person'scharacter.
Maybe you have to know wherethey come from, like how they
said back in the day, if theycome from good stock.
You want to hear somethingfunny.
When it comes to God, the wayyou learn to trust him is also
the reward.
The way and the reward isintimacy, a deep relationship
(07:08):
with the Father.
Every step of obedience bringsyou closer to him.
By trusting Him, bysurrendering control, by saying
your will, god, not mine.
By giving Him control in allareas, not just the major crisis
and all the problems, even themeaningless things, the trivial
matters.
God, what TV show should wewatch?
God, is this the right amountof sugar in my coffee?
(07:28):
His word says all things.
My grandfather made it a pointto define all for us.
All means excluding nothing.
That means every aspect of yourlife.
If it's on a list, god shouldbe right there next to every
item.
By inquiring of His will in allareas of your life, you get a
chance to grow a realrelationship with Him.
(07:49):
You get the privilege, thehonor of entering His rest in
His presence.
Here's the beauty of obediencewhen it comes to God.
Half the time you won't evenknow it's Him leading you.
The other half, you'll bechomping at the bit to do it
anyways.
Fair warning though it willstretch you past your comfort
zone.
But on the other side of thatcomfort is joy waiting to
(08:11):
embrace you.
Walking in obedience to God'swill is where you will find
meaning and purpose in your life.
If you're too scared to trustGod, then trust me.
And trust me when I say trustGod.
By now you know that my path tothis point has not been easy.
(08:32):
What I can tell you, though, iseach time I saw a breakthrough,
it was a result of obedience.
Remember that first time in theprayer room, when I hit my
knees?
That was an act of obedience.
I was never going to do that,ever in my life.
It was a planned thing.
Never To me, a man on his kneeswas of no good use to anybody
(08:54):
at all.
I wouldn't have even done it topropose.
It just wasn't in me.
So it was surprising when Godled me to do it.
What did I get for my troubles?
What did I get for breaking myown rule?
I got overwhelming peace.
Peace that makes no sense,peace that allows me to be calm
in the middle of storms.
Remember, when I came out westfrom St Louis, I wasn't trusting
(09:15):
God with the result.
I thought it was me, so the jobdidn't come through, but he was
the one leading me the wholetime, and now I have an actual
relationship with him, a realone, not just head knowledge of
this mystical force up above Aclose personal relationship with
the person of Jesus.
Even now, I can give you aneven more current example this
(09:36):
show.
Right now, this moment, mesitting here speaking to you.
This was and is obediencethrough and through.
I'm putting my whole lifeonline.
I was hesitant to do this.
Getting online and bearing mysoul to the world is not easy.
It's not appealing to thinkthat my life would be accessible
to everybody.
Truth be told, I also couldn'tstand the sound of my own voice,
(09:59):
hated it.
I'm still actually getting usedto it now.
So it took me a long time toget started because I needed to
be comfortable with how I soundin the process altogether.
I mean, I went as far aslooking into filters that might
make me sound in a way that Icould hear myself better, that I
could actually accept thatthat's my voice and I'm good
(10:20):
with it, even though it wouldn'tbe my voice.
Honestly, I don't know whatdifferent dimension to my voice
I was looking for, but I wasdetermined to be obedient.
So I got started.
Recording was easy, but thenthere's editing.
Editing requires listening tothe playback, hearing my voice
again, the voice that makes mecringe.
To be fair, nobody else hadsaid that to me.
It was just a personal problem.
The editing that also came withits challenges.
(10:43):
There's so many best practicesand protocols out there, so I
just fumbled my way through itand I'm still not sure I got it
right.
Then there's you, the listener.
What would you say?
There are a ton of obstacles tobeing obedient enough to do
this, and yet here we are.
You're probably waiting to hearwhat the reward on the other
side of obedience was for this.
(11:03):
It's you, the listener, and I'mthankful for you.
My reward is knowing that atleast one person may be able to
avoid a little bit of pain andhurt in their life.
My reward is that we're here atepisode 10 and you're still
listening, that you followedalong and either gained from
what's happened here or you havesomething to critique me about.
(11:26):
Regardless, you've been walkingwith me through this life of
mine, as we walk through all ofmy experiences and my flashbacks
and the things that I'velearned.
You were there, step by stepwith me, and that's the whole
reason we're here.
Your struggles are my struggles.
Your pain is my pain.
I mean it when I say we're allwe got.
We got each other and God hasus.
(11:46):
If you find yourself thankfulfor anything that came as a
result of this show, thank God.
He brought me through and hetaught me how to obey.
(12:12):
Now take a moment and ask Godwhere he's calling you to obey.
Maybe it's in yourrelationships or your habits.
Maybe it's how you spend yourtime.
Write it down and make acommitment to yourself to take
that step.
If building a relationship withthe Father is a new concept to
you, a very simple way to startis by getting in the Bible,
getting into His Word, learnabout Him, see what His promises
(12:33):
are, understand the characterof the Father, and then remember
one thing Every promise he'sever made has been fulfilled.
He's kept them, all of them.
He breaks no promises.
The other thing that makes it awise choice is it was written a
long time ago, but God neverchanges.
He's the same yesterday, todayand he will be the same tomorrow
(12:55):
.
Now let's pause for the causeone time, for our weekly
challenge.
This week, I challenge you totake a bold step of obedience,
whether it's forgiving someoneor stepping out in faith, or
surrendering another area ofyour life.
Do it and trust God with theoutcome.
This means making it a point toput the result out of your mind
(13:15):
and just knowing, whatever itis, god's got it and it's going
to be good.
After all, every good andperfect thing comes from Him.
Remember, obedience is theheartbeat of humility.
In order to be obedient, youhave to be humble.
When you live low, you open thedoor for God to move in
powerful ways.
Next week we're talking aboutendurance how humility helps us
(13:36):
stay strong when life gets tough.
Let's pray, father, we thankyou.
We thank you that you give usso much opportunity and time to
become obedient, that you do allthe work you lead us through it
, that you're patient and youextend so much grace and mercy
to us.
We thank you that, even whenwe're resistant, you still care,
(13:57):
you still love us, you stillwant us.
Thank you that you never stopcoming after us.
Bless the listener and teachthem how to obey a little bit
more this week so they can getone step closer to you In Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Endurance, not going to want tomiss it.
Until then, stay low, stayblessed and stay ready for the
(14:19):
next episode of the Low LifeShow.
Peace, outro Music.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.