I found myself being obedient in hidden ways to my employer, to my roommates, to traffic lights. Surges of joy came to me when I gave that authority to Jesus Christ, when I used these things as a way of obeying him.

Spiritual rebellion is pervasive today, but most drivers accept the validity of and obey without question road rules that prevent accidents. They stop at red lights because they know that if they didn’t, they could be killed. Why then is it so difficult to translate into the spiritual realm this simple approach to life and death?

Catherine Doherty was relentlessly obedient to her Lord Jesus Christ—not only in her exterior conduct but also in her interior yielding. That was where she found her peace and love. That was the source of the great fruitfulness that we saw in her.

Jesus Christ is our living legitimate spiritual authority. Those persons who have authority over us are bound to be sinful, weak, and inept. But we should obey them anyway and trust God to remedy any mistakes they make.

When we obey them, we are obeying Jesus Christ through them, and life flows into us.

—Adapted from Inflamed by Love, pp. 63-64, (2002), available from Madonna House Publications.