Obedience

I know what my challenges have been in obeying, especially being radical in many ways. But through the grace of God — and a snarly boss — I learned, through many tears and crying out to God, what this virtue was asking of me.

By aligning my will with God's will, I experienced a great peace, one that has stayed with me since. God is good, but He does want us to obey rightful authority, because obedience to others, when it's just, is part of how we practice obedience and trust in Him.

Having obedience means aligning ourselves with God's will and trusting in His wisdom. For me, it's about acknowledging that I don't have all the answers and that I need guidance. This journey requires humility and a willingness to follow God's lead, even when it's challenging. Obedience has helped me grow closer to God, transforming my thoughts, words, and actions to be more Christ-like. It's not always easy, but it's a path that brings immense peace and fulfillment, knowing that I'm on the right track.

Why Obedience Matters

The virtue of obedience holds a significant role in spiritual growth, offering a pathway to deeper understanding and connection with the divine. By aligning ourselves with God's will, we open ourselves to His transformative power. This helps us become more Christ-like in our thoughts, words, and actions.

When we follow God's guidance, we demonstrate our trust in Him. Sometimes it can be very challenging to take direction from those in authority, but this can be an opportunity to practice this virtue and seek God's help through prayer. Following God's will requires humility — recognizing that we don't have all the answers and that we need guidance. Humility is essential, as it opens our hearts to receive God's grace and wisdom.

I learned how to obey God in a hostile work environment. Without God, I couldn't have done it on my own. I would sit in quiet meditation with Him, saying simple words — here I am — and repeating what Jesus taught us: "I of my own self can do nothing without the Father." I said these words every day I was in that environment.

And then one day, I felt God surround me — especially in my heart. I was still in the thick of things. I still heard the foul remarks aimed at me. I still had a lot of work being thrown at me. But with the presence of God now, it changed everything. I was able to work in leaps and bounds, and I could see in others that they didn't understand how I was doing it. It was like an invisible magic cape — but I knew it was God, and everything I did, I did for Him.

Was it my meditation? Was it my tears? Was it my prayers? I will never know. I just know God is real.

It Is a Gift, Not Something I Earned

I truly believe that no matter what virtue you're working on in life, you need the help of the Holy Spirit to gift it to you. It isn't something we earn through enough effort or enough willpower. I can't fully explain in words how the obedience I found in that hostile workplace actually arrived in me — I just know it took years of meditation and reading Scripture before anything in me changed.

At that time, I was still very new and green to the Rosary, still learning what it truly meant, still nowhere close to understanding it the way I do now. And honestly, I still have a lot to learn today. I'm not saying this from some place of having arrived. I'm saying it because the obedience that grew in me wasn't mine to take credit for. Taking that first step toward Jesus, and hanging in there until you actually feel the connection, is real — but the connection itself is His to give, in His timing, not mine to produce on command.

If you're in your own hostile season right now and obedience feels impossible, that's not a sign you're failing at this. It may simply mean you're still waiting on the gift — and the waiting itself, the showing up in prayer day after day with nothing to show for it yet, is its own quiet obedience. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are exactly this — graces given, not skills mastered, meeting us in the ordinary moments of our lives whether we feel ready for them or not.

Discernment Still Matters

What I can tell you is that the reward isn't usually something you can point to and measure. It's more often a quiet increase in faith, hope, and love that you only notice looking backward — the way I can look back now at that workplace and see what was actually happening underneath the foul remarks and the work piled on me. I couldn't see it then. I'm not sure I fully understand it even now. But I know it was real.

Embracing Obedience, One Day at a Time

Embracing obedience has made my spiritual journey richer and more meaningful, as I learn to trust and follow the divine plan. It's not a virtue I've mastered — it's one I practice, fail at, and return to, the same way you might return to a conversation you weren't quite ready to finish.

If obedience feels heavy today, that's worth noticing rather than pushing past. Bring it to prayer as it is — not as you wish it were — and let God meet you in the honesty of that.

Carry this virtue into the Rosary and let the Mysteries deepen what you have found here.