Surprised by Authority
Mimi was beautiful but she was a junior in high school and I was a sophomore in college. She was very popular. Well liked not only by her girlfriends but by the opposite sex too — especially by the opposite sex! I was not in that picture but I wanted to be. She didn’t even know me — except maybe my name. The prospects were nil to none. This is the story of how a shy guy got from here to there to the point where Mimi and I have been married now for over 62 years. I guess you could say what follows here is a love story of sorts — at least the first chapter of it. The main characters are Mimi, my dad, God, and of course me.
For almost three years, camping trips, retreats, counseling at youth camps, and holiday visits with friends took up all my school break time. So when I was finally home for the Thanksgiving holidays my second year in college my dad said, “No way, son! You aren’t going anywhere! Your mother and I want to see you for a change!” What a bummer! Bob Yount, the local Young Life leader had asked me to help with a transportation problem. It appeared a number of high school youth would miss out on a wonderful weekend adventure in Ashville, North Carolina. One more car was needed to haul the Augusta kids 185 miles to a big youth gathering at the Manor Hotel. One key factor: Mimi was among those kids — a fact of which I was very much aware! Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to help out anyway, but… (smile).
If you’ve read a couple of my blogs where I mention my dad you’ll know he was not a pushover, so I won’t go into more detail here, except to say it was brazen of me to attempt a second shot at it but I did. It was disaster. Nothing physical or even verbal, but the “No!” came with accompanying looks that said, That’s my final edict. Don’t bother me with it again. Oh, but I did! Here’s why. Two things: One, Bob phoned with a desperate last minute appeal. Five kids would miss out unless another car was found. Two, God, whom I had totally ignored in it all suddenly entered the scene, or more accurately I quit tuning him out. I was reminded of a passage in the book of Proverbs that had recently impressed me: The kings’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will (21:1). “The king’s heart”, yes, but what about my dad’s heart? It took me a few seconds, but after I concluded God was actually bigger than my dad I said to him: Lord, I’m going to ask my dad one more time. If you want me at that camp, my dad will say yes. If you don’t, my dad will say no. I will take my dad’s words as your words whatever they are. Amen.
It was all different now. It was out of my hands. It was in God’s hands. I was not apprehensive at all even though I was doing the unthinkable — approaching the “king” a third time after two rejections. I prepared well. I didn’t want the results to have anything to do with a poor presentation on my part. It was late evening. My dad was in bed about to turn his light out when I made my appeal. He was kind and not at all abrasive with gentle words that amounted to a very clear “no.” I was amazed at the happy ease with which I returned to my bedroom saying in my heart, Thank you, Lord, for such a clear answer. I sure don’t want to be there if you don’t want me there. And then I thought, What a cool way to know God’s way.
Ten minutes later my dad called me. I still remember the moment well — standing in the doorway of his bedroom as he threw me the keys to his car (a good twenty feet) while he said, “Son, take the car. Have a good time.” I did take the car and I did have a good time. And I did meet Mimi. She was all everybody said she was and more! You know the rest of the story. Know this too; had we not met that weekend the rest of the story would have never happened. So still standing me in good stead is this great lesson of my life…
Obey and Trust
You may know of the old song Trust and Obey — a song encouraging right behavior towards God. I’m suggesting not another song but a biblical principle — one that encourages right behavior towards legitimate authority — Obey and Trust. Obey the authority (after presenting your best case) and Trust God with the outcome. (To clarify: Illegitimate authority is when asked to do that which is contrary to God’s written will. And this: Children are to obey their parents while under their roof and honor them afterwards, Eph. 6:1-3.) There is plenty in the Scriptures about obey and trust but the most profound is Jesus Christ obeying the pagan leader of a godless government — Caesar of Rome. Jesus’ enemies thought they had him when they asked him, Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Jesus said, Show me a coin, and [tell me] whose portrait’s on it. They said Caesar’s. Jesus countered, Give to Caesar what’s Caesar’s and to God what’s God’s. Another time Jesus paid the tax directly, finding the money a most surprising way (Matt.17:24 and 22:19). By obeying and trusting we will — as I’ve found more than once — be surprised by authority.
