Security in Obeying God's Representatives – It's a Promise!

In the Bolivian jungle, near a missionary outpost, a tiny boy was playing under a tree. Suddenly he heard the missionary priest call to him, “Philip, obey me instantly – get down on your stomach and crawl toward me fast!” Though bewildered the lad obeyed immediately. After crawling a few yards, he heard another sharp command, “Now stand up and run to me!” The youngster again obeyed, running into the open arms of the priest who then pointed to a fifteen-foot deadly anaconda snake slithering over the branches of the tree under which the boy had been playing.

Just as Philip was saved through his obedience, those who are ready to obey the commands of a wise and all-loving God will enjoy his guidance and protective embrace. In these tumultuous times, when we’re often confronted with fears, insecurities, anxieties, afflictions, diseases, accidents, disasters, crime, and evils of all sorts, God’s special protection is supremely desirable. Mercifully, it even includes reversing the threat of punishing tribulations? “Reform your ways; obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounces against you! (Jer 26:13). No wonder that submitting obediently to God’s signified will carries the reward of security!

How does God reveal these commands to us? Sometimes they are given indirectly through his chosen representatives. Occasionally, such intermediaries are angelic. God told the Israelites through Moses, “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you…My Name is in him. If you listen to all he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you” (Ex 23:20-22). The psalmist pleaded: “Teach me to do your will…May your  good spirit lead me on level ground” (Ps 143:10).

More often God uses authorized human instruments to communicate his will and assure his protection to his children. Thus, the prophet Jeremiah assured King Zedekiah: “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared” (Jer 38:20). Paul, as a communicator of God’s ordinances, reminded the docile Roman Christians of the will crush Satan under your feet” (Rom 16:19-20).

Obeying those who represent God is a sure way of knowing and obeying God himself, even when it is through a chain of command: “As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses’ (Jos 11:15). In obeying the orders of any legitimate human authorities (we must not obey sinful orders, of course), it is ultimately to God that we are submitting; “Keeping God’s commands is what counts” (1 Cor 7:19), for that is what conveys his promised protection. Thus James, acting as God’s instrument, prescribes many ordinances; yet he promises protection from the devil for those whose submission is oriented not to himself but to God: “Submit yourselves to God…the devil will flee from you” (Jas 4:7).

Even Jesus submitted to the Father’s will as expressed through God’s intermediary, John the Baptist. He was baptized – an act of humble obedience which was endorsed by the Spirit of God descending on him as a dove, and by the Father’s thundering approval from the heavens: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). Only after this do we see Jesus overcoming Satan’s temptations and vanquishing him during their encounter in the desert.

Peace and security thrive among those who obey God’s will as expressed through legitimate human authority. Joshua obeyed Moses’ orders and won monumental military victories that led to peace for his people: “The land had rest from war” (Jos 11:23). And even soul-rest comes to those who seek to do God’s will. “Ask where the good way is, and walk in it,” Jeremiah counseled, “and you will find rest for your souls” (Jer 6:16).

This excerpt is from the book The Art of Loving God by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications, 1995. This 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.