Unquestioning Obedience

A Reflection on the First Reading for March 8th, 2020:
Second Sunday of Lent

Genesis 12.1-4

The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.

---

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

---

Unquestioning obedience to God.
These are the words that are going round and round in my mind.


In this reading, Abram packed up and went forth from his land with his family and his belongings. There was no turning back for him as he went on to Canaan, the place God wanted him to go. Because of this obedience, God took care of Abram and his family, delivered him from many challenges, and blessed him tremendously with a great nation.


This reminds me of another reading where God called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and to return to Canaan, the promised land. God also blessed Moses tremendously and guided him and the Israelites as they roamed the desert for 40 years. Again, It was his obedience to God that stood out to me.


What does obedience mean? The Google dictionary defines it as: compliance with an order or request; submission to another’s authority. Is it easy to be obedient? I would say, "No! It is difficult!" The more knowledgeable you are, the more experienced you are, or the more successful you are, the more difficult it is to be obedient. Obedience involves denying one’s own inclinations. It involves giving up on our good ideas and opinions in order to subject ourselves to someone else’s authority.


In the Old Testament, God ruled and communicated more directly with the leaders of His people. He was an authority they were compelled to follow. Today, the biggest obstacle to obedience is pride. We know so much and we have so much confidence in ourselves that it is difficult to give all that up to follow God’s orders or requests. Sometimes, what we are being asked to do is something we would never do if it were up to us. Moreover, with the busyness of our lives and our lack of quiet moments, we can hardly hear God even if we are willing to follow Him. We simply have to quiet down and LISTEN to what He is telling us. Only then will we get a measure of understanding of God’s requests of us.


One of my realizations has been that God is always there for us when we obey Him. We will never be alone just like Abram and Moses were not alone. His Divine Providence is boundless; His much needed guidance is so freely given.


This Lenten season would be a good time to start improving on our communication with God, which will make it easier for us to obey Him. Let us devote at least 10 minutes at the start of our day to reading His word and reflecting on it. During reflection, we may hear God speaking to us, or the passage we read might inspire us—or might even contain the answers to our prayers.




Liz Venezuela

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

---