Obey God or Man? A Missionary’s Test of Faith
Have you ever had to answer the question obey God or man? What do you do when the vision God gives you is challenged by those in leadership? This is the story of a missionary on divine assignment who was welcomed into a church to serve the women’s ministry. Initially embraced by the pastor, she worked diligently to carry out God’s plan. But as the program progressed, the pastor’s demands began to conflict with the vision God had given.
Faced with the pressure to comply, she had to make a bold decision: obey God or follow man?
Through prayer, fasting, and steadfast faith, she navigated this difficult season, learning to honor leadership without compromising God’s will. In the end, her obedience inspired a deeper understanding of faithfulness to God above all. This whole experience became a profound missionary test of faith.
The Call to the Assignment:
To protect the true identity of the missionary we will refer to her as Evangelist Lucy. She had been at her home church over 20 years. While visiting a sister church for the “Last Seven Words of Christ” Good Friday service, the Lord spoke to her and said, ” You will be leaving your home church”. She didn’t understand it at the time because she had a great church family.
Fast forward to the pandemic and the reason for Evangelist Lucy to leave her church became apparent. During that time she held many positions and worked with leadership in the local, district, and state level…she is licensed through COGIC. Without getting into the depth of specifics, there were noticeable changes in Pastor Greedy. He began to blur the lines of holiness linked to money. This change to his church leadership integrity, was so vast that upon learning the details and violations committed Lucy had to end her membership there. She then realized God gave her the warning message two years in advance. This established the gravity of Church Leadership Integrity issues.
New Territory
Evangelist Lucy, wasn’t ever without a church home, so this was new territory for her. She had a good friend, named Sarah who attended a non-denominational church in the area so when she felt like she need to hear a word from the Lord she would attend services with her. Lucy, enjoyed the presence of the Lord and even began to come to the outreach events. Everyone was impressed that Lucy helped clean up after the events and did so without being a member.
While helping take down tents at one event, Pastor Disobedience of the Rocky Help Heaven on a Hill church told everyone in a joking manner that “Evangelist Lucy said, she wants to be a member”. Lucy was surprised because she didn’t say that, in fact she was questioning God asking why was the Pastor lying to his members?
A couple weeks later, the annual tribute service to the founding pastor was scheduled. The Lord was dealing with Lucy regarding helping the women’s department with the planning. The normal leader had died and no one else had ever planned a service before. So Lucy met with Pastor Disobedience after hearing from God and then it clicked, the day that the Pastor “playfully” made his statement, he had heard from God that Lucy was there to help. This was the start of the God’s Assignment vs Man’s Agenda conflict.
The Assignment Begins
Everyone was happy to have Evangelist Lucy’s assistance and Lucy felt honored that God trusted her to complete this assignment. Lucy is very smart and to make sure there were no thought of her taken over; in the first meeting with the women she formed a committee. The women were selected by the members which included Sarah. Evangelist Lucy wanted to make sure God got the glory out of the event and requested corporate fasting and praying. Using the scriptures as a foundation:
Matthew 6:16-18 (KJV):
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
The point of this teaching was to make sure the women stayed in a unified posture of worship while working on the background details of the service. Plus Lucy was new, had not known the founding pastor, and wanted to make sure the love of the daughter’s of that church was well represented. The women and Evangelist Lucy were working together smoothly. Every decision was put before God and then to the women for anything God did not specify.
Challenges Arise: Satan Had Set Up Camp
The first problem encountered, was Pastor Disobedience’s increasing demands. The women had heard from God that they should use the women at the church to show the growth of their gifts and callings especially since they are never used. It was clear that the Pastor had no idea what his spiritual daughters could do, and God was going to reveal the level of anointing that was sitting in the pews.
However the biggest drama was that Pastor Disobedience demands conflicted with God’s instructions. This created the immediate question: Obey God or Man?As a result major confusion and tension began to rear its ugly face and ways, among the women and the leader. The misuse of Spiritual Authority in the Church became evident.
God’s Guidance Through Prayer and Fasting:
Under Evangelist Lucy guidance, the women sought God together and received additional instructions. Lucy explained how their first job and highest priority is to honor God. When the women asked why would our leader tell us to do something different from what God is saying to do; Lucy explained that as long as they follow God and respect the pastor’s desires the LORD will take care of everything.
God was showing them how to be obedient to HIM and yet meet the requirements that the pastor continued to alter. The conflict between God’s Assignment vs Man’s Agenda deepened at this point.Then a day came that none of the women saw coming. Pastor Disobedience called them to say who he wanted to do the service on Sunday. The women was using that individual for a panel of the No Holds Barred, Healing and Growth session to address issues and questions that can’t be discussed during regular worship services.
The Pastor wanted Evangelist Lucy to participate in the service and in a manner that God advised against. The pastor at this time is really showing behavior that goes against humility and church leadership integrity. Lucy wasn’t sure what she was going to do but she had the courage to remain steadfast despite opposition. These issues were the foundation of the personal, missionary test of faith she had to endure.
Balancing Obedience and Honor:
The final demand of Pastor Disobedience occurred the week before the program. Pastor Disobedience took it upon himself to reach out to the panelist and have her come for the Sunday service, then told the women’s department to redo their entire layout. Evangelist Lucy recognized that it was crucial to have a private conversation with the leader of Rocky Help Heaven on a Hill. His actions has totally interfered with God’s plan. The women kept him updated on the flow of the service but they did not expect such sabotage. He was more concerned about the appearance of the service on FB than he was about respecting the vision of worship that God gave the women.He totally interfered.
Evangelist Lucy realized that God’s assignment that she was there to complete just ended. She respectfully addressed the pastor’s changes while staying faithful to God’s vision. She explained that she had prayed and fasted about the changes and don’t not feel lead by God to do what the pastor requested, because it is opposite of what God told her. The test was simple: Obey God or Man…God every time!
During the conversation the pastor tried to say Lucy had not been under leadership where she was used to submitting. Lucy replied that she came from a church where the pastor respected and honored the vision that God gave to the head of the program. Now at the time of this conversation, Lucy’s friend Sarah had been kicked out of the church by the pastor and she knew it was likely to occur to her after this conversation. Pastor Disobedience expected blind faith from his members, fundamentally misusing his Spiritual Authority in the Church.
When every detail was discussed about how Lucy could let the women’s department of Rocky Help Heaven on a Hill continue without her, the pastor kicked Lucy out. Evangelist Lucy learned a lesson in maintaining humility and patience while standing firm. Her dedication to Church Leadership Integrity remained steadfast and her desire to please the Father kept everything in check.
The Final Stand:
Her decision to prioritize obedience to God, even when it meant stepping back from the altered program took strength. If she was worried about what will people think…she would be bound now to a leader that doesn’t respect God.
The church is the LORD’s, NOT the Pastors. The Church is the body of Christ. As a member of God’s church Lucy respected the pastors decision but she HONORED God’s Given Assignment and HIS WORD. If you are ever stuck between the thoughts of a human and the words/vision of the creator…ALWAYS FOLLOW THE CREATOR! The answer to Obey God or Man is very clear.
The grace and strength God provided during this critical moment was phenomenal. The heaviness that Lucy was carrying was released immediately. God revealed the truth about the pastor’s spirit and the things that he needed deliverance from and due to her foundational teachings she still showed him the proper respect.
In the end, Evangelist Lucy walked away and was highly respected by the women. Some of them were eyewitnesses to what happened to Sarah, and they could not understand why the source of their “help” was being attacked. Evangelist Lucy understood that God was showing her in that moment that when He said, “I will send you to leaders, don’t look at their name or title, just say what I say tell you” this was a part of that assignment.
Lessons Learned:
Evangelist Lucy learned that obedience to God is the greatest weapon against Satan’s plan. This experience deepened her understanding of serving God’s Will above all else because ONLY what you do for Christ will last. Maybe no one else has ever told that pastor how he was missing the mark regarding his Spiritual Authority. The warning God sent through Lucy was not about pleasing people. There is no comfort zone in God.
There is no hiding place from God He sees all! he deals with the public you, private you, and secret you and all of them need to be holy to please him. The highlighted experience for Evangelist Lucy was the insights she gained into navigating spiritual authority in organized religion while staying true to God’s instructions. This was her great Missionary Test of Faith.
Don’t let fear, manipulation, or deception stop you as you go out on behalf of God… recognize that God’s assignment has more power than Man’s Agenda. Are you following God or Man?
Call to Action for Readers:
Have you ever faced a situation where God’s plan for you was challenged by others? How did you stay faithful to His vision? Share your story or reflections in the comments. Your testimony might inspire someone else to remain steadfast in their calling.
Need more information on Humility and Fasting and Praying read these posts.
