Because HE Said So

We've all heard the phrase, "Because I said so." It's often the final word that calls for trust and obedience. But when God says something, His Word carries absolute authority because it flows from His perfect character, unfailing faithfulness, and eternal truth.

In this episode of Woman in the Word, we examine what it looks like to obey God simply because HE said so. Through Abraham's faith-filled journey in Genesis 12, Elijah's unwavering obedience in 1 Kings 17, and Paul's steadfast determination to finish his calling in Acts 20, we'll see that God's people have always been called to trust God's Word before they could see the outcome.

Whether God is asking you to step out in faith, follow His leading into the unknown, or remain faithful in a difficult season, His Word is a firm foundation. Obedience isn't based on having all the answers—it's based on knowing the One who has them.

Join us as we discover the freedom and confidence that come from trusting God's voice above our own understanding and choosing obedience—not because it always makes sense, but because HE said so.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Woman in the Word, the podcast where we dive into scripture, ask real questions, and walk through the Bible together, one honest conversation at a time. I'm Felicia Parker, I'm your host, and I'm so glad you're here. So whether you're new to the Word or you've been studying for years, there's a seat at the table for all of us. So grab your coffee, open your journal, or put on your walking shoes, and let's get into it. Hey, welcome to the Woman in the Word podcast. I am so excited that you are joining me today, as always. I'm looking forward to this conversation. I know we missed last week, but we're jumping in and we're jumping into a topic that I so enjoy talking about, and it comes from the new book that I just released, Because He Said So. So that's gonna be what we're talking about today. I don't know about you, but being raised as a child in the family that I grew up in, there would be times where you would hear family members, you know, adults say, uh, do this because I because I said so. And a child might say, Well, why? Well, you know, this or that, and asking all the questions. And they said, Just because I said so, the expectation is you're going to do it. And it makes me laugh now thinking back, but it makes me at times want to take a deep breath and say, Wait, God, but you know, when it comes to the things that He's asking me to do now in adulthood, and things back then would be go fold the laundry or go wash the dishes. Now it's hey, write a book, start a podcast, start a women's ministry, you know, and you're like, Wait, wait, Lord, can we talk about this? And all I hear is do it because I said so, and not do it because I said so, like the people in my family, because I said so, I hold authority. He's saying, Do it because I know the outcome before you ever get started. Do it because I am the great I am. Do it because I am your perfect heavenly father and I love you. And like scripture says, this great plan that he talks about in Jeremiah, he puts us up on game in Ephesians 2 and he says, Hey, it's good works. So the plan I have for you, connect it to Ephesians. These good works are gonna be a part of this great plan I have for your life. But in order to walk out these good works, you've got to do it because I said so. And I don't know about you, but sometime I would love to get a little more information before I step out and do something because I want to count the cost, right? So I want to do damage control in my mind before I get started. Like, okay, what will this cost me? How exhausted will I be? You know, what is gonna be required of me? What skills do I need to possess? What connections do I need to have? Just all the things, right? Basically, I'm I'm looking for the full roadmap. And how many of us know walking by faith, we don't get that? More often than not, we get the command that's for the next, we don't get the command that's for the everything. And oftentimes, I feel like for me, at times, and maybe for you, maybe you've been complacent or stuck where you are because you're waiting for the full roadmap to be laid out before you take that first step. And one thing I want to share with you, time and time again, I feel like I'm sharing it on the podcast, is that first step, it's what's required to get the next word for the next step. And so this is what I mean. We're gonna jump right into scripture. We see in Genesis 12, verse 1, it says, The Lord said to Abram, Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to a land that I will show you. And then he makes it sound a little more exciting, right? He says, Verse 2, I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. Verse 3, I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you. Okay, let's just take a pause for a minute. So he says, Leave everything you know and go to a place that I will show you. He didn't even tell them where they're going. He didn't say, Hey, we're leaving this state and we're going to that state. Hey, we're leaving Los Angeles and we're going to Daytona Beach, Florida, or we're going to, you know what I'm saying? We're going to Raleigh, North Carolina. No, no, no. He said, You're going to leave everything you know, and as we go, I will show you. And that is what it looks like to walk the walk of faith, to walk out this life of faith. It looks like when people say, Where are you going? You say, I don't know. And they say, Well, why are you going? And you, and all you can say is because he said so. Abraham, all he had was because he said so. I'm walking because I'm going to trust the God that's leading me. I'm going to trust his word more than I trust the comforts of home, more than I trust my feelings right now, more than I trust my logic right now. I'm going to go because he said so. And I love this verse, Vora said, So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed. How many times? Maybe it's just me. How many times have I received an instruction? And behind that instruction, it doesn't say, Oh, and Felicia departed as the Lord instructed. No, no, no. It might say, and Felicia thought about it. Felicia pondered on it. Felicia considered it too long. Felicia allowed it to cause confusion in her mind. Felicia rolled it over so much that she opened the door to fear or doubt. That might be some of the things that God has instructed me to. That might be some of the things that are behind that statement. And my prayer for me and for you is if that's said about you behind the statement of God saying, Hey, leave this place, go do this thing. Hey, start this business and you don't have the money. Hey, go back to school and you don't know how you're gonna, you know, pay for it. Hey, go and and apply for this job and you don't have the the resume to reflect it. And you're like, wait a minute, God, how is this gonna work? My prayer is that behind God's instruction, it says, and Felicia or Sarah or Megan or Roxy departed as the Lord had instructed. I pray that becomes what is said of us is that once we hear the word of God, we move on it and we move on the instruction, y'all, all because he said so. Hey, I just wanted to take a quick pause in our conversation and introduce you to the lover of your soul if you have yet to meet him. I would love to lead you in the prayer of salvation. So if you'd repeat after me, that'd be awesome. Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I'm in need of a savior. I confess that Jesus is Lord and I want him to be the Lord of my life. I believe that you raised him from the dead to rule and reign for all of eternity. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with the precious blood of Jesus. I thank you, Lord, for dying on the cross just for me. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want to welcome you to the family of God and just say congratulations. So I don't know if you caught it in verse two and three, but I'm gonna read it again. It says, I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make you famous, and you'll be a blessing to others. That's verse two. And then verse three says, I will bless those who bless you, and I'll curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you. Okay, so if God says to you, hey, I need you to go to a place that as we go, I'll show you. But by the way, in the going, I'm gonna make you into a great nation. If you choose to go, I'm gonna bless you, and I'm gonna make you famous, and I will allow you to be a blessing to others. And guess what? I'm gonna bless those who bless you. And guess what? I'm gonna back you up in such a way that those who are unkind to you and curse you, he's going to curse those who treat you with uh a posture of contempt or a heart of contempt. And then he says, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you. How many of us would still sit and wonder, could we get the full roadmap? He literally says, Hey, follow me on the journey, and here's a promise attached to it when you go. I'm gonna do all of these things for you. If we were honest with ourselves, how many of us would still sit back and say, but what will what will it cost me? Let me count the cost before I go. What will it require of me? What do I have to lose to walk in it? What do I have to learn or to grow in a skill? What will have to mature in me? Would we still be asking that? Or would we say, you know what? I don't know where we're going, but I would love to be a blessing to others. I would love for all the families of the earth to be blessed through me. I would love to have God back me up. So if anybody is trying to come at me, they got to mess with my God. I would, I would love for us to say, the promise that is attached to the going would be enough to get us to go. But unfortunately, even with a book of promises called the Bible, we still sit stagnant and we don't step into all that God has called us to because we're waiting for the full roadmap instead of just going just because he said so. On September 19th, 2026, women will gather at the UNLV Student Union Ballroom for a powerful day of connection, encouragement, and renewal. The gathering, 2026. There's a seat waiting just for you. Maybe another scenario is God will tell you something, but he doesn't tell you how long you're gonna stay there. He doesn't tell you how long the supply will last. For an example, 1 Kings 17, we find Elijah the prophet. He goes and he tells the king Ahab, he says, There won't be rain for some years until I come back and I speak a word. This is verse 2. It says, The Lord said to Elijah, Go to the east and hide by the Cherith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Very detailed, y'all. Then he says, Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food. Verse 5. It says, So Elijah did as the Lord told him. So he went. He says, Okay, I've got a word from the Lord. He told me this is where I need to go, and he told me how I will be supplied. I'm to drink this water, and this bird that usually is very selfish is now gonna be selfless, and God is gonna cause him to feed me. But y'all, he didn't tell him, okay, and you're gonna be there for two days, and then you're gonna be there for a week, and then you're gonna be there for a year. No, he said, just go. I'm gonna supply for you food there and water there, and you're gonna find rest there. But he didn't tell him the duration, and I don't know about you, but sometime I'm like, okay, Lord, I'll go, but how long am I gonna be there? I'm I'll go, Lord, but how long is the process? Lord, I'll go, but, but, but, but, and I don't know about you, but I think our hesitation in going sometime is I don't know how long I'll be there, or I don't know how long this process will take. Although God did say He's gonna provide for me, He's gonna provide me rest and food and water, I just don't know because I don't know how long I'll be there. And I'm thinking not just about this, I'm thinking about the next and then the five next after that. And I think sometimes we're like a deer caught in headlights. We're so stuck with the word from God because we're trying to figure out, okay, now after this, how will you provide? Now, after this, how will you supply? Now, after this, where are you gonna send me and where am I gonna go? And where am I gonna live? And how am I gonna pay for the gas and the groceries? And you know, where are my kids gonna go to school? And we get so caught up in the next that comes after the next that comes after the next that we find ourselves stuck in a position because we won't just say, okay, because God said go, because God said trust him, because God said he'd supply, I'm gonna rest on his word and and trust that he said he's gonna feed me, he's going to give me the shelter and the rest that I need, he's gonna provide the water that I need. I can trust him. And I think sometimes we need to get to the place of saying, okay, no matter how long I'm in this place, God has already promised to sustain me there, so that's enough. So I'm gonna go just because he said so. Hey, I just wanted to take a quick break in our episode and share with you some really exciting news. This year we are hosting our first ever outreach experience. This is an expansion of the gathering, and it is hosting 12 to 20 year old young men and women. I'm really excited about it. The location will be UNLB Student Union Ballroom. It's gonna be a great time of word, worship, connection, free merch, free food, a great concert, and you don't want to miss it. And it is totally free. So all you have to do is jump on our website, purpose-promise.com. Click on the gathering drop down, register, and we look forward to hosting you. All right, let's jump back into the episode. And let me just say one thing in connection to Elijah and Abraham and pretty much all of scripture. One thing I've noticed is that whenever God is calling us to something, we have a choice. Either we're gonna step out on it because he said so, or we're gonna stay where we are. But I need you to understand the enemy is waiting to see what you're going to do. He wants to know will you step out on that word or will you stay where you are? Because he wants to see you stay so that you never step into all that God has called you to be. He does not want to see you step into all that you have called, uh, you've been called to do for the kingdom of heaven. So he's hoping that you'll say, Well, God said he'll feed me here, he'll provide me water here, he'll provide me rest there. Oh, but he didn't tell me how long, so I think I'm not gonna go. And he's hoping we'll do that. Or he's hoping, like with Abram, go to a land that I will show you. He wants you to stay planted in the seat of comfort until you get a full roadmap because he knows with God you'll never get one. And so he'll lie to you and say, Hey, just wait. Wait on the Lord, he'll give you more instruction, he'll give you more insight. But we know, like scripture, every single story we read, God spoke more as more steps of faith were taken. And I want to encourage you today, wherever you are, you gotta take the next step. I don't care if the path looks unpaved. I don't care if the road looks dark because there's no lights, because it's under construction. I don't care what it looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like. If God has given you a word, you have to take the next step because in the next step, you're gonna find the provision you need. In the next step, you're gonna find the connections you need. In the next step, you're gonna find the peace that you need. In the next step, you're gonna find the favor that is required, but you've got to take the next step. And y'all, I want you to hear me. Elijah took the next step. He was fed by a raven and he drank water from a brook. But I need you to understand, the next thing God asked him to do was go to a city, and now the miracle he experienced, he wanted him to now allow the woman to experience a miracle through Elijah's words. So God had to use that step of faith to go and drink the water from the brook and eat the food from the raven so that it could build his faith up to say, Hey, when God calls me to do the next thing, it might be bigger, it might be, it might be more impossible in my mind. But hey, God already showed me what he's able to do. So now I'm gonna show up. And if he tells me to tell a woman, hey, that God's gonna supply and he's gonna feed you and he's gonna provide for you and it won't run out, I can say that because I've experienced it. And that's what we have to realize. These steps of faith are not just for us, it's so that people can come behind us and walk on the paved road that now we have laid down with every step of faith. And that's what we have to realize. The promise that was given to Abram was for families to be blessed through him. That means because of his steps of faith, you're now blessed. My question is because of your steps of faith, who will be blessed after you? Will it be your children? Will it be your grandchildren? Will it be a legacy of freedom that they get to experience in an area that maybe you didn't because those that came before you were too afraid to take the steps of faith just because he said so? But I want to encourage you today, you're gonna be that person that changes the trajectory of your family, that changes the dynamic of your legacy. It will be said of you that when God spoke, you moved and you did what was instructed of you all because he said so.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Every journey of faith begins with the choice to stay comfortable or to step out, to wait for clarity or to trust his voice. Because he said so was written for the moments when God calls you to walk an unpaved road with nothing but faith and his promise. The journey begins at the Gathering 2026. Join us for the release of Because He Said So and discover what happens when you say yes to God because He said so.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

We see another situation in Acts chapter 20. This is Paul, who was formerly Saul. He has now been commissioned into ministry, and so he is out teaching and preaching, and in chapter 20, verse 22, it says, and now this is Paul speaking, and now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me, verse 23, except the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. This is what he says, but 20 verse 24, but my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the good news about the wonderful grace of God. I want to ask you if if God called you to something and it required you to have to experience suffering, would it cause you not to go? If God says, Hey, I need you to go to this place, but when you go there, you may lose some friendships. When you go there, your reputation might be, you know, challenged. When you go there, you may lose this or that. When you go there, you might experience this pushback. Would you go just because he said so? So that he could get the glory out of your life? Or would you say, you know what? I don't really feel like suffering. I want to stay comfortable. I want to stay where I'm liked. I want to stay where I'm valued. I want to stay where I'm appreciated. Or would you say, like Paul, my life is worth nothing unless I use it to finish the work that's been assigned to me? So if that requires suffering, if he says so, I'm gonna go all because he said so. If that requires me to have to experience some uncomfortable situations, I'm gonna go just because he said so. Y'all, our life of faith is not going to be lived out in the seat of comfort. It's gonna be lived out on the journey of uncomfortability. There is no space in the faith walk for comfortability. And this is what I mean, not saying you can't have a house where you're comfortable, a car that gets you to work comfortably, a nice bed that you sleep in, and you get some some good rest. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is a life of faith should stretch you past a place of comfort. And if it doesn't, and if you get to a point where you say, Oh, that's a little too far, don't want to do that, don't want to suffer like that, my question is, are you valuing your life and the plan you have for it more than God and the plan that He has for it? Because I want you to understand in this journey of faith, suffering, heartache, pain, rejection, ridicule, Jesus literally says in scripture they hated me. He says, So if they hate me, they're gonna hate you. And I don't know what the hate you will experience will look like, but just know if you are a follower of the Most High God, if you are a true disciple, you will experience some type of ridicule, some type of hatred in regard to your life and the way you're living. And if that is too much, I would ask, are you truly living for God or are you living for you? Because when when we say yes to him, we're saying yes because he said so. Yes, will you take my son to be your Lord and Savior? Will you will you lay down your life and pick up the life that I have for you? Will you die daily and will you carry your cross? Will you do the things I've called you to do, or do you want to exalt yourself and live for you? And I would say today, whether it be going to a place and you don't know and you have to figure it out step by step with the great I am, or if it's going to a place and you have the details about it, but you don't know the duration, or if it's going to a place and something in your life may suffer. My question is, will you do it because he said so? Because y'all, I need you to know he's worth it. He's worth us saying yes to whatever he says just because he said so, because he is faithful, his word is true, and it's the firmest foundation we could ever stand on. So whether I know where I'm going or I'm not, I know how long I'm staying or I don't, I know the suffering I'm gonna experience or not, y'all. He's worth following the instruction that is coming out of his mouth just because he said so, because he's just that good. Thanks for hanging out with me in the word. I hope it encouraged your heart and gave you something to carry into the rest of the week. If it spoke to you, share this with someone who might need it too. And hey, don't forget to follow or to subscribe so you don't miss out on what's next. Until then, keep showing up, keep listening, and let his word lead the way.