God's will is manifested to us in an express way through those to whom we owe obedience, and through the advice received in spiritual direction.
Obedience does not have its ultimate foundation in the qualities-personality, intelligence, experience, age-of the one who commands. Jesus infinitely surpassed - he was God - Mary and Joseph, and he obeyed them4. Moreover, "Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of the Father's will, inaugurated on earth the kingdom of heaven, revealed its mystery to us and brought about redemption through his obedience".
Those who think that obedience is a submission unworthy of man and proper to people with little maturity should consider that the Lord became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Christ obeys out of love, to fulfill the will of his Father; that is the meaning of Christian obedience: that which is due to God and his commandments, that which is due to the Church, to parents, that which in one way or another governs professional and social life, etc., each in its own order.
To obey as Jesus obeyed, it is necessary to have an ardent desire to fulfill the will of God in our life, and to be humble. The spirit of obedience does not fit in a soul dominated by pride. Only the humble will gladly accept a criterion other than his own - God's - to which he must conform his actions.
He who is not humble will sometimes openly reject the command, and at other times he will apparently accept it, but without giving it a place, in reality, in his heart, because he will subject it to critical discussion and limitations, and will lose the supernatural sense that obedience has. "Let us be cautious, then, for our tendency to selfishness does not die, and temptation may insinuate itself in many ways. God demands that, in obeying, we exercise faith, for His will is not manifested with fanfare. Sometimes the Lord suggests his will as if in a low voice, in the depths of our conscience, and we need to listen carefully in order to distinguish that voice and be faithful to him.
"On many occasions, he speaks to us through other men, and it may happen that the sight of the defects of those persons, or the thought of whether they are well informed, of whether they have understood all the facts of the problem presents itself to us as an invitation not to obey." However, our desire to fulfill God's will will overcome that and other obstacles that may present themselves to our obedience.
Humility gives peace and joy to carry out what is commanded even in the smallest details. The humble feel joyfully free in obeying. "As we humbly submit to the voice of others we overcome ourselves in our heart", we overcome our own selfishness and break with its bonds, which enslave us.
In the apostolate, obedience becomes indispensable. Effort, human means, mortifications... without obedience, everything would be useless before God. It would be useless to work with tenacity for a lifetime in a human work if we did not count on the Lord. Even the most valuable of our works would remain unfruitful if we do without the desire to fulfill the will of Jesus: "God does not need our works, but our obedience".