Obedience

Obedience

by George MacDonald

I said, "Let me walk in the fields;"

He said, "Nay, walk in the town;"

I said, "There are no flowers there;"

He said, "No flowers but a crown."

I said, "But the sky is black,

There is nothing but noise and din;"

But He wept as He sent me back--

"There is more," He said, "there is sin."

I said, "But the air is thick

And fogs are veiling the sun;"

He answered, "Yet souls are sick,

And souls in the dark undone."

I said, "I shall miss the light,

And friends will miss me, they say;"

He answered me, "Choose tonight

If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be given;

He said, "Is it hard to decide?

It will not seem hard in heaven

To have followed the steps of your guide."

I cast one look at the fields,

Then set my face to the town:

He said: "My child, do you yield?

Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"

Then into His hand went mine,

And into my heart came He,

And I walk in a light divine

The path I had feared to see.

Born in Scotland in 1824, MacDonald was a minister who also loved to write fairy tales and poetry "not for children", he wrote once, "but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." His writings of fiction such as "The Golden Key" and "The Light Princess" have influenced G. K. Chesterton, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, and E. Nesbit. If you love the stories of Narnia and Middle Earth, then you will love how MacDonald's worlds are full of wonder and fantasy, yet remain grounded in God's truth. In one such story, titled "The Princess and the Goblin", the Princess is given a magical silver thread that can guide her to safety. The only problem is, no one, not even the Princess, can see the thread. She has to follow the thread by touch, even though she can't see where it is leading her, or where it will end.

Obedience is like that thread. God sometimes gives us only the information we need for the moment. He sheds light on the first step we must take, but the journey itself is in the dark. I think about my friends in Papua New Guinea, who have committed at least three years of their lives to work with a people group there that has never heard the Gospel. One of their tasks is to learn the language of these natives, and though the natives have been accepting of them into their village, no one knows how they will receive the Gospel. But like the person in the poem, my friends have chosen to leave the fields and flowers. They have said goodbye to their friends and family and the comforts of American suburban life because they believe that His crown and the souls of people are worth more. And though it is difficult for them, like it is difficult for you and me, to obey when the thread they are following is invisible, it is not impossible. It will not seem hard in heaven to have followed the steps of your guide.