Like most kids, I hated this statement. I wanted a reason for what seemed at the time like a very arbitrary request or point of instruction. However, all the disdain in the world didn’t stop me from using the same phrase on (or against) my own children.
As a parent I came to realize the phrase was very useful in two instances. One, when I was just too worn out to explain one more thing in the never ending onslaught of “why?” questions. Two, when I just needed my kids to trust me without having to know the details.
Okay…let’s be honest here- I don’t know if my parents (or if I) consciously thought about the latter reason for using that phrase; however, in hindsight, trust-even in the absence of details- is exactly what grew. I came to learn why my parents told me to clean my room, eat my vegetables, and save even a small portion of my allowance. I am grateful for all the times my parents used “because I said so…” on me. I think it taught me something about obedience I may not have learned by any gentler means.
Even when we’ve learned from the best (my parents were two of the best), even when we understand how to trust and obey without details, there are times when obedience is hard. When God asks us to do what seems impossible, we want to revert back to our younger self and ask why. We may even try to find excuses to not do what is being asked of us.
It is in these times that I am most grateful for and have fallen in love with “because I said so…” God never asks us to do something He knows we can’t handle. He never instructs us in contradiction to His loving character. When He instructs us with no details or reason, we can be assured of one thing- it’s for our own good. God has instructed me in many “because I said so…” ways over the years, and not one time have I come away thinking it was a waste of my obedience to Him.
Most recently God instructed me to contact my ex-husband, asking to have lunch with him and his girlfriend. (His girlfriend incidentally is the one he cheated on me with, ending our marriage. A woman I’ve never seen or met in the eight years since my world fell apart). The more immature side of me wanted to ask why, but I knew better. This was a “because I said so…” moment.
I was nervous when I contacted him, I was more nervous when they said yes, but I was the most nervous when they…when she…walked into the restaurant. In the hour that followed I came to realize something very profound. This meeting was not for them- it was for me. God told me to do something because He had a gift for me on the other side of my obedience.
All the times my parents said “because I said so…” taught me more about trusting them. Every instruction they gave me had a purpose- even if I didn’t know it at the time. I am grateful for all those unanswered “why” questions. The result of their instruction has been more than learning the importance of cleaning my room. Learning the significance of obedience even when we don’t know all the details holds the potential for earthly blessings, as well as some eternal perspective. “Because I said so…” is a beautiful phrase indeed.
