It’s natural to question and want to know why things must be done a certain way. And many times we get the benefit of these insights. But many other times we obey simply because God said so even when we don’t fully understand why.
Kids are known for their endless questions of why.
And this is part of how they learn, discover the world around them, and if our heart toward them is good. We demonstrate our care for them and affirm their heart matters by simply entertaining their questions.
But there are also times in which we need them to trust us enough to simply obey even when they don’t fully understand.
Perhaps we see danger ahead and there’s no time to explain our command. Or maybe they’re just not old enough to understand the full complexity of the decisions made.
Whatever the case, there are many times in which obedience must come before understanding.
Certainly, we see this in the military as well. It’s the soldier’s duty to follow the orders of his commanding officer – not to question or demand explanation. He trusts the basic goodness of those he follows to simply obey.
And this remains true in our life with God.
To be sure, there’s a place to question and wrestle with God when we want to know why. And as a loving father he welcomes such wrestling. He doesn’t turn us away when we’re seeking to know more.
At the same time, he expects obedience even when we don’t fully get it.
He remains God, and we are not. It’s not our place to question or remain disobedient because we don’t understand or don’t agree with what he has asked us to do.
In the end, we obey simply because God said so.
We remain arrogant and prideful to think we can make God answer us on our terms rather than humbly submitting to his.
God’s heart toward us is good. Trust and obey even when you don’t fully understand.
Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash
