From experience—mine and that of millions around the world—when a commanding officer in your life goes against God’s clear commands, and you choose to obey God instead, God supports you.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t pride. Pride gets resisted. But when your disobedience to man is an act of submission to God, God backs you. His peace is with you. His presence strengthens you. His favor rests on you.
Here’s the picture:
God speaks. You hear Him—maybe through your leader, maybe directly. If your pastor is aligned with God, he’ll echo what God is saying. But if your pastor veers off course and tries to lead you into something God hasn’t said, you must choose God.
God’s hand is often human, but sometimes a man refuses to be that hand. And when that happens, God does not leave you stranded. He doesn’t resist the humble man who honors His voice over human voices.
You know it’s God because you don’t feel guilty when you move in obedience. There’s no rebellion in your heart—only reverence. You’re not trying to fight a man—you’re trying to follow God.
And God meets you in that place.
Imagine God calls someone to be an evangelist, but their pastor wants them to stay back and open a church branch. Now, that pastor may have good training history with you, but if he’s more concerned about expanding his name than God’s kingdom, you’ll know. You’ll see it. And when you move on—after pleading with God to speak to him and waiting—you’ll find peace in obeying God.
You don’t disobey over petty things. But when God speaks clearly, and your leader refuses to hear—you move. You don’t stay and disobey God to keep a man happy.
You don’t submit under the mighty hand of a pastor—you submit under the mighty hand of God.
Stay submitted. But above all, stay submitted to God.
