Shiloh Baptist Church sat right in the middle of an Indiana cornfield. At least, that’s how I remember it. There was a song we used to sing there in that little church with the worn red carpet. It was called Trust and Obey. The refrain said “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
While the song brings back sweet memories, it was never one of my favorites. Not that I disagreed with the message, more that I wasn’t sure exactly how to do that when I was younger. Trust is hard to pin down and obey is just a plain yuck word. It felt very outside – in. Not that I am advocating disobedience. I have three children. I am a fan of obedience, letmejusttellyou. Still, the mental pictures that rise to the surface when I think of that word are sort of harsh and robotic.
When The Man asked me to help him fix our broken attic door last night, I did so for two reasons. One – I love him. Two? I’m kind of the one who broke it. (Yes, our 45 year old pull down attic door is stuck. Open.) But mainly, I love him. And I responded to his request because of that.
Respond? That is an inside – out word. Something happened on the inside, and now it is showing on the outside.
I’ve been thinking so much about this lately. Trust and obey? Sure. But I rather like receive and respond. Trust: receive security, worth, and acceptance from the only One who can fully give it. Obey: respond to the love that has been lavished. Not to earn it, but because you already have it.
I LIKE that! Thanks for sharing those inner thoughts today. I will remember R&R!
I like that. We love only because He first loved us.
Yes, receive and respond is a much better way of looking at it. What great insight you’ve shared here.
And my little baptist church in Ohio sang that same song EVERY Sunday night–it was the closing hymn. It takes me back to being 10 yrs old whenever I hear it…
I agree with the “obey” word. When my husband and I got married about 12 years ago, we actually changed the vows to remove the word “obey” and changed it to “respect”.
ahh…what great insight you have. Change out the baptist church in an indiana cornfield for a church of christ in an alabama cottonfield and I think we could have lived the same life! I do like what you have written much better- the older I get, the more I am learning about grace and like you said, obedience is our response to recieving that…Hopefully I will strike a better balance with my children.
thanks for your beautiful words today… i just knew you would have something for my heart today! and i love the response to the love that has been lavished. makes me just want to roll around in it…
I remember singing that song in the little country church with the worn hardwood floors. I can still hear my grandmother’s high, whiny singing voice making a joyful, if not beautiful, noise as she sang.
While I did like the song when I was a little girl, I admit the “obey” part gave me pause. I like your perspective on it much better.
I recently heard that song and thought about how much I don’t like it…and how I’ve never liked it. One, it’s not very melodious. Two, I don’t necessarily agree with its message.
I am still not always obedient…or even trusting. Yet I’ve never been more aware of the Father’s love. Furthermore, there were times when I was very obedient and very unhappy. Furthermore-more, the song makes it sound as if trust and obedience are things one could and should just conjure up out of sheer willpower and do-better-ness for the chief end of their own happiness (the outside-in thing.)
Don’t get me wrong. I love the beauty and richness of certain old hymns. I love what artists like Indelible Grace have done in recent years to re-popularize them. But there are some that bring back bad memories of a God whose love was ostensibly conditional on my faith and obedience…and I’m ever so grateful that’s not the case.
Don’t you like how my comment is as long as a post? Sheesh.
Anyway, great thoughts and I couldn’t agree more. Oh, and I love the photo!
Emily, this is so good. I need to write some of this down and put it on my bathroom mirror. He has been so good to me!
Hey! That’s the “Kite Girl” down the street from my house. I love her…
Oh how I remember those beautiful hymns of the old churches in the tiny towns of Ohio where I lived as a child. Per usual, you have encouraged me today. Happy Monday Emily!
(Now I’ll be humming Trust & Obey all day long, great reminder!)
i love the way you worded this… thanks
Oh, girl, you’ve penned right thinking here, and I love it, and I need it. If I lived this way with my Father, I think, too, that the way I discipline my own three would be very different. I’m going to chew on this for a while. Thank you.
The seventh Harry Potter book ends up pretty much turning on Harry’s choice to “trust and obey.” To trust that the person directing him knows what is best, and to simply do that without understanding why. It’s very powerful. I think of “trust and obey” in those terms – doing what we feel we have been asked/commanded to do without knowing or understanding why. We are part of the story, but we do not have the perspective to know what our impact might be.
It’s interesting to see the difference – your version implies that you feel security, whereas I am more comfortable with the version that implies that we are pretty much in the dark. If I am honest, that is how I feel.
now you’ve got moms across america with that tune in our heads, trying to squeeze in more syllables to remember your lesson!
i’m having a little party this week, stop by if you can!
What a great refreshing perspective on a song that so many of us associate with those childhood days of Sunday School – my little baptist church was in rural Maine but I think the same premise applies…
I love when a moment of revelation can make a sweet memory even sweeter – thanks for sharing
Lots to think about. GREAT post.
XOXO
Suzann
Yes, yes, yes! Or should I say, Amen, sister!! ;o)
This same thought has been rattling around my head for weeks now.
In regards to my children, I want them to do what I say because I have their heart. They trust me because they know my love for them ensures that what I ask of them is the very best for them.
In regards to my husband, I struggle with submit because it (to me) implies a forced compliance. I don’t want anything I do for my husband or Lord to be out of forced compliance but rather a natural response because I am assured of his/His love for me.
You used so few words and yet eloquently and beautifully gave voice to a mental conundrum of mine! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
AMEN SISTER!!!! Great sermonette! My husband finishes many a service with this song. It is my oldest daughters favorite hymn. Often when the kids hesitate to obey I lightly sing it’s refrain. It is so wonderful to be in that safe protection of being in HIS will for us, we need to keep it in mind especially when we are tempted to lean on our own understanding. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” He WILL direct our paths as we obediently walk in his will, trusting HE knows what is best. Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above…
You are so true (as a friend of mine likes to say)! Think of your favorite teachers….You WANTED to do for them because you loved them. That was what first came to mind for me when I read you today. The second was “Love and Be Lifted”.
I like your perspective on this post, Kari. I think sometimes I go back and forth between feeling secure and knowing who I’m trusting, so I am able to respond to that security. But other times I trust in the dark just because the alternative is to hide in the corner and shrivel up in fear. So even though I don’t get it and I don’t feel trusting…I trust. And then sometimes I don’t trust or obey or receive or respond. That’s when I get in a funk.
Amen. Well said. And now, to do it.
m ^..^
Oh, it always throws me for a loop when you write about Indiana. I have been to that church several times when I was younger with a friend. AND it is about 0.5 miles away from my school.
And so can I be completely non-spiritual, even thought you spoke right to my heart with this post?
Did you fix it and what little treasures were you getting down in the first place? Cuz, I’m nosy like that, and love to hear the end of the story.
I’m kind of surprised at my myself, but I lived long enough, and suffered through enough, and seen God show up enough, that I trust enough. Now that doesn’t mean I like obedience in the same way I like candy. But I look back at what I’ve gone through and I see trust and obedience woven into everything worth keeping.
Thank you for this, Emily! I’ve been really working through some stuff in the area of trust, and I like your take on it.
a good distinction – love the concise writing. I’d have a more coherent comment, but I’m not that coherent. This is the stage where I can’t think, but I can feel…
“When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way; While we do His good will, He abides with us still–and with all who will trust and obey.” I wasn’t at Shiloh Baptist, but I think our church leaders must have been kindred spirits.
I do think He sheds a special glory on our way when we walk with Him “in the light of His word.” But “He abides with us still” because He’s the abiding type.
So we stand in awe, we receive it as best we can comprehend it, and we respond out of amazed and grateful hearts. And really, I think His good will for us is to receive and respond, just as you’ve described.
Thank you for sharing these thoughts.
Beautifully said!!
I wish I would have come up with that…perfect.