No child enjoys hearing these four words. They form a sentence that sends the son or daughter spiraling into a flurry of frustration, no matter the situation.

“Because I said so.”

I remember hearing these words and hating them. They made it impossible to get what I wanted. My plans didn’t prevail because a higher authority said otherwise. If I went ahead and ignored those four powerful words, I knew I could expect some sort of painful discipline.

It’s no mystery that when we’re told we can’t do something, that becomes the thing we want to do the most. But to be told we can’t do something because a certain someone said so? That’s where things get ugly.

We don’t like that because it shifts our perceived authority over our lives to someone else. It makes us feel enslaved and oppressed. We rebel and throw tantrums to try and take back some semblance of control, no matter how self-destructive.

At 25 years old, I seldom hear those words anymore but am still tempted to throw those same tantrums. It seems our world has a great way of mutely cutting us off with a wagging finger saying, “Because I said so.” How we long for the day when we can freely declare “Because I said so” and go about our business with no outside interference. Some believe that they have a self-governing life where all their decisions are made with those four simple words.

It shouldn’t take long, however, to see that we are not in control. One untimely diagnosis, one stolen credit card, one little spark catching your house on fire can all derail life as we know it. The reality of our powerlessness really tends to sneak up on us in the catastrophes. It shouldn’t have to, though.

Consider the fact that you must pay taxes. If you don’t, you’ll be thrown in prison. Does anyone really want to pay taxes? Or, take your emotions for example. Can you control how you feel? Look at something as simple as breathing. Is there a fresh air supply for your every moment because you said there would be?

What we say often doesn’t go. Even if it did, I’m not so sure we’d love the destination. I find that my way is often a way to more losses than wins.

This is why I’ve been becoming more and more okay with the truth that virtually nothing is “because I, Brian Hilton, said so.” Of course, I’m not saying that we have no ability to make decisions, but I am saying that there is one who can say those four words with no room for anyone’s rebuttal.

A lot of people don’t like that idea, which is what turns people off to God. Many have an understanding of God that is similar to their view of tyrannical dictatorships. He’s restrictive, harsh and doesn’t serve our best interests.

But if I may ask respectfully, what is the source of that understanding? Because when I open up the Bible, I see that God saves me from myself. When I look at my life, I see that I have no good thing apart from Him. When I look at my heart, I see that the only reason I can have any hope or joy at all in this life is because He says so.

Consider Romans 8:31-32 which says,

“…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

When we know God and walk with Him, we can’t lose. It is that fear of loss or being kept from something good that fuels our rebellion of His authority. But shown here, God’s absolute authority over all things is our best-case scenario.

However, it’s clarified that this is true “if God is for us.” This naturally begs the question – how do we get God to be for us? The answer to that is found in verse 32 as the author, Paul the Apostle, notes that God did not “spare his own Son but gave Him up for us all.” Why and how would God give up His Son?

The “why” is found many places throughout scripture, but pretty profoundly in the oft-quoted John 3:16 which reads,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

It’s because God loved the world that he gave His only Son. A decision prompted by love for us and the desire for our ultimate good, not some sort of power trip.

The “how” of God’s giving up of His son is well described earlier in Romans. Consider Romans 3:25-26:

“God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice because in His forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

So, God’s love for the world motivated him to offer His son, Jesus, as a “sacrifice of atonement” which in turn “justifies…through faith,” sinners. Every one of us falls in this “sinner” category. Evidence of sin can be found in our natural position against God. Again, we want to be the ones to say, “because I said so.”

Thankfully, we are not in authority. God is. We deserve to be judged for our sins, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we have an atonement because God said and did so. We simply must believe in Jesus and turn away from our plans, to His.

This is where I’ve found a new love for this phrase. No longer does it matter what others say about us, or even what we say about ourselves. Remember, if God is for us, who can be against us? What He says about us is what goes – and He says I’m forgiven in Jesus through faith. He says I’m His child. He says I have all that I need in Him.

While our feelings might not always grasp this due to the inevitable hardships we will still face in this life, I’m thankful for the firm foundation that what God says goes. This brings freedom, security, and true comfort that isn’t shaken by circumstance.

There’s nothing that can rival the joy I partake in considering a clamoring voice listing all my inadequacies, flaws, past, present and future sins questioning God on how I could be saved. In a calm yet firm voice, God says through Jesus –

“Because I said so.”

 

Scripture References:

Isaiah 50:8-9 – “…Behold the LORD God helps me; who will declare me guilty”

Romans 8:31-39 – “…if God is for us, who can be against us?”

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 – “…I don’t even judge myself…it is the LORD who judges me…”

Daniel 3:6 – “…we have no need to answer you in this matter…”

1 John 4:4 – “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world…”

Romans 8:28 – “…all things work together for good for those who are called…”

Psalm 118:6 – “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Revelation 12:10-11 – “…the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down…”