Monday, February 3

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Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.

—Psalm 119:1, nlt

I have no recollection of what sparked my six-year-old indignation, but for whatever reason, I was furious with my mom. We had been visiting her friend Laurie, and when it was time to head home, I came up with a brilliant plan of retaliation.

I wouldn’t wear my seatbelt.

I knew this was something Mom was serious about, so I figured I’d go straight for her jugular. I sat smugly in the backseat, holding the seatbelt in place so it looked like I was wearing it. But I never clasped the latch.

Ha! That’ll show her! I thought.

In all my six-year-old genius, it never occurred to me that Mom wanted me to fasten my seatbelt for a valid reason—that it wasn’t just an arbitrary rule she’d come up with as a way to constrain me and cramp my freedom. It didn’t cross my mind that she wanted me to wear my seatbelt because she loved me and wanted to protect me.

I met up with a friend recently who’s struggling in a certain area of her life. She knows about God’s instructions not to do something, but she wanted to believe the rule no longer applies today. God had made that declaration in a different time, a different culture. Surely he wouldn’t hold us to that today . . . right?

I knew what she meant. How many times have I felt the same way?

But when I look at Scripture, I’m struck by the truth that God’s Word is eternal; his commands are unchanging. “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89).

So maybe the problem is that we’ve got this whole obedience thing catawampus. What if these rules—these seatbelts God has given us—aren’t just arbitrary restrictions he has placed on us to squelch our freedom? What if these boundaries are in place for our protection, for our ultimate good?

It took me a while, but I finally caught on to the fact that Mom’s seatbelt rule was in place because she loved me, because she wanted the best for me. Along the way in my spiritual journey, I’ve caught a few glimpses of the why behind some of God’s rules too. But there are still times when I don’t fully understand all of his commands. And to tell you the truth, there are some commands I don’t particularly like, even if I understand them.

It’s in those moments—when God’s commands are beyond human understanding—that we have to decide what we truly believe about God’s character. If we can grasp that he is a good Father who delights in protecting his children and helping them grow, we can obey him with joy, as the psalmist did. We can trust the who, even when we don’t get the why.

In her book Walking on Water, Madeleine L’Engle says, “One does not have to understand to be obedient. Instead of understanding—that intellectual understanding which we are so fond of—there is a feeling of rightness, of knowing, knowing things which you are not yet able to understand.”

Even if we never fully understand the whys on this side of eternity, may we buckle up and obey anyway.

What “seatbelts” of obedience has God put in your life? Why do you think God has set those as commands? What might he be protecting you from?

—Stephanie Rische