God Isn’t Asking For Your Blind Obedience
More than once I’ve heard Christians calling each other to what sounds like blind obedience to Christ. Phrases like, just obey or it doesn’t matter how you feel or if the Bible says it, just do it can be thrown around in explanations of how to live out our faith.
While there may be specific circumstances or moments when those things may be useful, I don’t believe they are useful as general instructions because they are missing the heart of what God is calling us to and without God’s heart, they are the type of things that set people up to be spiritually abused.
So what does God mean when Scripture calls us to “obey”?
The Hebrew word often translated as “obey” in the Old Testament is shama1 and it actually means “to hear intelligently”.
So when God tells his people to “obey”, like in Jeremiah 11:7, “Obey the terms of this covenant and follow them…” He’s actually saying, “Hear/Listen to/Pay attention to the terms of this covenant…”
And, for sure, this means we need to obey what He’s saying, but it doesn’t mean to just blindly obey. It means we listen to hear what His voice is telling us–so we can understand and follow through. It means we respond with clarifying questions, with thoughtful additions, with respectful dialogue.
Hearing intelligently means there is an exchange of presence.
But, here’s the cool part: this is not the only instance that shama is used in Scripture. As often as it’s used to request people to listen to God, it is also used as a description of what God does toward people.
For example, in Genesis 16:11 it says, the LORD has given heed to your affliction. “Has given heed” is the translation chosen here for shama. In other words, Jehovah is paying attention. He’s responding. He’s “obeying” the cry they offered from their affliction.
It’s not blind obedience from God to people, it’s intelligent hearing, an exchanging of presence that shows response and knowledge. And it’s the same thing God asks for from people toward Himself.
The truth is that relationships break when mutual hearing doesn’t happen.
- As children, we need to hear our parents and also feel heard by them for a healthy relationship to form.
- To have healthy friendships, we have to be able to hear what our friends are saying and also feel heard by them.
- For a marriage to thrive, we need to hear our partner and also feel heard by them.
We’re not talking “hear” like, audible words computing. We are talking, shama, “to hear intelligently” to really listen, and strive to understand.
Spiritually, it’s no different. God requests shama from His people but he’s not talking about just going through the motions. He’s not talking about doing what He says in order to get our own way (that doesn’t work in any relationship).
He’s asking for us to hear Him in order to know Him.
He’s asking us to hear Him so our relationship can thrive.
He’s asking us to pay attention, for Him to matter.
And this kind of hearing is exactly what the Lord does for us. When Scripture says, “the Lord shama” it’s not just audible words that he hears. It’s the deep things, the shattered things inside people, the beautiful things, the joy and the sorrow-filled things.
He hears it all.
The reality is that I forget sometimes. Instead of hearing Him, I only hear my own agony. I look around wildly, believing that because God didn’t change my circumstances, then He’s failing me. But healthy relationships aren’t transactional. They’re based on being heard, not on getting what we want.
But here’s the truth that can get lost in the agony of our circumstances: the healing we long for isn’t rooted in the removal of our pain. What our spirit longs for is to be heard. For ALL our emotions to be heard.
And that’s what God is constantly, consistently offering to and requesting from us.
I want to walk in this truth. Right in this knowing and being known, hearing and being heard. It’s the place where life is abundant, where hope thrives, where the peace that goes beyond understanding rests under my feet.
If you’ve ever felt that having faith means walking in blind obedience, know that God is looking for and offering you something far deeper, far better, than following without knowing. He’s offering you shama.
