Trust and Obey

We are called to trust and obey from a very young age. We are instructed by our parents and teachers to trust and obey them. Not everyone has a godly example to follow but I thank God for those who lead by example. Growing up, I loved the hymn ‘Trust and Obey’ even though I wasn’t always the most obedient child. The events that were reported Sunday night regarding our military remind me how our military leads by example. They are given orders and they carry them out by trusting their superiors to give them the instructions which are best for our nation. They obey them out of a mutual respect even if they don’t agree with those in charge. They protect our nation. A leader doesn’t have to be godly to follow God’s will. They can rule by the faithful earnest prayers of a nation who seek God and justice.

This morning as I was reading my Bible, I read about a woman whose faith and prayers brought about a favorable outcome with an enemy of hers. This story parallels our current events. It was through her persistence and faith, that a judge, who didn’t follow God and didn’t respect his fellow man decided in her behalf. Jesus relates the following story:

““There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”” Luke 18:2-8

To me this shows that even though our leaders may not fear God or follow Him, they can make decisions based on godly principles through the faithful prayers of a nation. The main point is we need to pray earnestly and continuously and hold our leaders up. We should pray that justice is served. When we have war, people die. I just pray the ones who die have made a commitment to follow Jesus and for those who haven’t, I’m sorry for them.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. I Timothy 2:1-4

Thank you to our military who have the discipline to trust and obey even when the task may go against their beliefs. Thank you to those who pray earnestly and sincerely for our leaders by asking God to direct them to make the right decision(s). To trust and obey our earthly superiors and our God is an act of humble submission we should all support. I pray everyone seeks God our Father and his son Jesus Christ.