Because You Say So (04/29/2026)

I was raised with it, and I hated it then. So, I tried with all my might not to resort to it myself as a parent, but it came out anyway. My children would test me with all the reasons they didn’t want to do what I said. And when I knew I was losing ground, I would say it. “Do it because I said so.” And they did. They didn’t like it, but they did it, whatever it was.

One of my favorite bible stories is from Luke 5 where Jesus is trying to teach the crowds, but they are pressing in on him, so he gets on a boat in the shore owned by Peter and asks him to row out a bit so the people can see him but not engulf him. Peter does as he is asked. And Jesus teaches from the boat. When He is done, Jesus tells Peter to cast out into the deeper water and lower his nets. Peter tells the Lord, “we have worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at your command, I will.” Peter was telling the Lord he didn’t want to do that again, but he would because the Lord said so.

Throughout my life, the Lord has called me to do many things I didn’t want to do, to raise my hand when I’d much rather sit on it, to show up when I’d much rather stay at home, to go to a new place when I’d much rather let my current roots grow deeper. I suspect that is true for all of us; I imagine that at some points in our lives the Lord has asked us to do things we’d rather not. If it happens today, will we? Will we do what He asks because He says so?

There’s a huge difference we must recognize between my parenting “because I said so” and Peter’s “because You say so.” Mine was in the midst of potential disobedience on the part of my children. But Peter’s was purely obedience. He heard the Lord ask and he responded “yes.” He didn’t want to do it, but he felt compelled to do as the Lord said.

Over the years, the Lord has given me some big “asks”, but most of the time they are small, most of the time they involve turning away from something I don’t need or moving closer to being who He created me to be. I suspect the same might be true in most of our lives. Perhaps if we can get better at doing so in the little matters, we might get better and braver about the bigger matters. We might be more willing to go where He sends us even though it’s not our idea.

Let’s try. Let’s give obedience, which literally means to hear the voice of the other, a try. Let’s open ourselves to what the Lord is asking of us today.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.