Yesterday I really needed someone to pray with me, not just for me, but with me. I called one pastor who had offered support any time I needed at Annual Conference and he was out of the office, so I called another with whom I had prayed long and hard at Clergy Convocation, gloria a Dios, he was in. After identifying myself, my first words were, "I was wondering if you'd be willing to pray with me." I didn't make it two words into that sentence before my voice cracked and tears began to stream down my face. We talked for a long while and at the end of the conversation he did indeed pray WITH me. I needed that. I needed him and was grateful he was there and available when I called. As we talked about things he shared something that was extremely powerful. He said, "I tell my kids they need to obey me when I am right and they need to obey me when I am wrong, because that way they learn to obey God when they thinkare wrong is good discipline to train us to continue to obey God when we think God is wrong."
Now, ordinarily, I'm a "fight-the-fools, speak-truth-to-power, don't-let-them-get-away-with-that" kinda gal. But really, his words struck me. It was amazing and eye-opening to see the clarity of his wisdom: we will think God is wrong at various junctures in our life, and if we have no willingness to submit to "wrongness" then we will be unwilling to submit to God and God's sovereignty in those times, and we will miss out, be hurt, run from God, etc, but if we practice submission, even in the light of another's obvious "wrongness" then we will be more prepared to practice humility in the light of God's perceived wrongness.
Thank you JM. God is wrong. Learning to obey authorities when they
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