Obedience and Trust

A pilot flying in a fog was being guided from the control tower by radar for a landing. He asked about a pole that he remembered having seen in the flight path. The flight control reply came back bluntly: “You obey instructions; we’ll take care of obstructions!”

Demurring souls who hesitate to obey do not follow God’s instructions and hence never learn to trust God. Souls that are not submissive are untrusting souls.

Their disobedience may take many forms, such as a refusal to tithe as the Bible requires (see Mal 3:8-10), or a refusal to love and pray for our enemies, to bless them and even do good to them (see Lk 6:27-28). Disobedient souls are not Spirit-led and may persist in the abominable practices mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21 (emphasis mine):

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That is, if we don’t obey the Flight Controller, we cannot be assured of a safe landing.

If we don’t obey God’s Word, then we don’t trust his right to require obedience of us. That means we don’t trust his sovereignty or his authority over us. That, in turn, means we don’t trust God himself. Are we prepared to admit that? Would we dare to state openly that we don’t trust God? You can see why Paul says that such disregard of God deprives us of inheritance of his kingdom.

The paragon of trusting obedience is Jesus himself, as the author of the epistle to the Hebrews reminds us: “He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears . . . and he was heard because of his reverent submission. . . . He learned obedience from what he suffered” (Heb 5:7-8, emphasis mine).

Trustful obedience to God, regardless of our personal feelings about his rules, is ultimately trust in him to bring us to a safe landing in heaven.

This excerpt is from the book Pathways of Trust, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.