The Grace Is in the Obedience

Amanda Woodiel ponders how, even if it looks like we've failed at something, we've earned grace if we're obedient to what God is asking of us.

As part of my part-time job at our parish, I organize events for parents and families and consequently need to advertise them. This past Sunday morning, I left home early to go to the formation class for parents whose children are in religious education to tell them about two very helpful and relevant upcoming events. As I drove, I practiced my little speech in which I introduced myself, explained the “why” this event is important, and emphasized the precise “where” and “when”—all in two minutes or less.

I’m not a practiced public speaker nor, probably, a very engaging one. I’m certainly not a confident one, and when I arrived to find our rather intimidating pastor leading the parent class instead of the friend I had expected, my nerves were even more rattled.

After I heard my trembling voice begin, my mind focused on that and forgot all of the rhetoric I had practiced. Two minutes later, I was finished. Five minutes later, I was in my car, driving home, muttering to myself about how that was a total flop.

Or was it?

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One important spiritual truth God has been teaching me lately is that the grace is in the obedience, not in the outcome. In other words, faithfulness to doing what God is asking of me in the moment is the place where the gates of heaven are opened and graces poured upon the world. What a merciful God He is! If graces depended on my being a brilliant orator and my words moving the hearts of parents, we would be an impoverished parish indeed. But since it actually depends on my doing what God asks of me in the best way I can, the opportunities for God’s grace abound. God asks me to be obedient; He doesn’t require me to be successful.

Why? Why would the divine economy work this way? One reason is because we are to be followers of Jesus, and the Scriptures are careful to emphasize Jesus’ obedience. In the Letter to the Philippians we read:

He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name. (Philippians 2:8-9)

The author of Hebrews, referring to Jesus, wrote:

Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered; and when He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.” (Hebrews 5:8-9)

Jesus’ perfection and the salvation of the world comes through His obedience to the cross … and our obedience to Him.

In addition, God’s power is made known through human weakness. When I am obedient but not particularly effective in the world’s terms, the work and power of God is obvious. If people show up to my events, it is obviously not my work that got them there. His “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

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That the graces come from our obedience rather than our skill or success is a truth that truly sets us free. To the catechist who feels like she isn’t reaching anyone in her class despite multiple efforts to change how she delivers the message: the graces flow from teaching the class. To the parent who goes to work every day feeling like he’s doing something totally pointless, the graces come from being obedient in providing for his family. To the stay-at-home mom whose day is turned upside down between an unexpected visitor, a tub of spilled cooking oil, and a frenetic toddler: the grace is in being obedient to carry the little crosses of the day. And for me, and my obvious lack in certain departments of my job, the grace is in being obedient to doing what God asks me to try.

As we meditate upon the passion of Our Lord this week, let’s remember to ask Him where He desires us to be obedient to Him in our own lives and to thank Him for making a font of grace that is always accessible to us, even in our weakness.

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