Because I Said So

By Lynn Ludwick

As a child in the Fifties, I held a few unquestioned assumptions. Dwight D. Eisenhower would always be president, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees would always play the World Series, and my father was always right. Only one of the three assumptions held any water. My president retired, my team moved to California, and in early adulthood I discovered my father wasn’t perfect. Close, but not quite.

Other assumptions carried me through childhood—Mom and Dad were Boss in our home, and I’d best do what they said. If I questioned them, they usually responded with a crisp and no-nonsense, “Because I said so.” My dad told character-building stories and explained some things, but mostly I figured out the why of life later on.

For decades I viewed God’s authority through the same lens. He commanded and I was supposed to obey. No questions asked, just because He said so. Love your neighbor, don’t kill, don’t steal. Well, not much argument there, but other commands seemed foggy, and I later found human opinion infused some of what I’d been told. Then I discovered the essence of God’s deep love and grace, and my life changed. For just as my parents wanted the best for me, God wants the best for me. He isn’t out to get me, to beat me with a heavenly stick, as it were—though His commands still warrant my obedience.

I’ve also learned that God often couples a command with a promise of reward or unpleasant consequence. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 6:7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Matthew 7:1

Since I’ve been enlightened about divine grace, I accept God’s straightforward manner. His intentions are my protection and my growth as a Christian, as well as my ultimate happiness. He desires to mold me into a woman who walks in His ways, a woman growing more Christlike. And through Holy Spirit guidance and empowering, He promises to reveal Himself in the daily aspects of my life.

Presidents, sports teams, and life’s circumstances change, but God’s Word remains firm, faithful and true. As I search out His purpose and will in this new year, I pray for a heart that obeys with sweet willingness, not one that merely conforms with grudging resistance—even if I don’t understand why.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…” Philippians 2:14-16

Lynn Ludwick writes from Medford, Oregon. lynniegirl45@hotmail.com