Listen and Obey

 “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways!” Psalm 128:1

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family and the reading today is about how St. Joseph took care of his little family by heeding the instructions of an angel in his dreams. 

Because of St. Joseph’s obedience, I thought of this fascinating sharing by Jamie Winship who was a police officer. He had just watched a guy assault another police officer so he arrested him, got hand cuffs on him, and took him in his squad car to process him. The guy was pleading, “It’s Christmas Eve. My wife’s in law school. We’re broke. I’ve never committed a crime before…” and on and on. Jamie thinks, “ Yeah right!” BUT he heard a distinct voice say, "Stop the car and de arrest this guy and let him go." 

Jamie knew the voice of God but he also was aware he could lose his job and never get another job in the police department again. But he also appreciated that obedience is better than sacrifice! So while Jamie is arguing with the voice in his head out loud, the guy in handcuffs is listening, and confused. The Lord asked, “Is your career more important than the guy in the back seat? Are you more valuable than him because he broke the law and you didn’t, because you’re white and you grew up in this neighborhood?” Jamie finally got out of the car, opened the door and pulled the guy out even if he didn’t want to get out. Jamie had to knock him to the ground to get his handcuffs off because the guy was hugging him, scared Jamie was going to shoot him if he ran away. 

Finally Jamie had to tell his captain what he did and of course his captain was super mad. Jamie had been under this man for five years and the captain finally said, “I've seen you do crazy stuff before and it's usually worked. Not always, but usually. You have," he warned because it was Christmas Eve, “You have two weeks for this to become a really good idea or you're not only fired, we're probably going to arrest you for what you did, but l'll give you two weeks. It's like a Christmas break. Come back after Christmas." 

Jamie got reassigned to work nights at the front desk. One night he got a call. It was the guy that Jamie dearrested. And he said, “Is this officer Win? I'm the guy you dearrested….I know you did what you did because you think God told you. I appreciate it and want to pay you back.” And the man said that in two nights at midnight, there's going to be a black Porsche coming through this particular intersection and Jamie should pull him over, and make him open his trunk. So Jamie got one of his partners to do it since he was suspended and sure enough, when they did the stake out, they were able to make a huge narcotics bust! 

The “informant” called again, and Jamie says they’re even but the guy says, “No, we’re not even.” He explains, “Because this isn't about me and you being even. This is about God and me. I want to repair the community that l've been a part of damaging." 

Jamie and this guy worked together for one year, and they did the craziest stuff together. Jamie never told anyone who he was even if the FBI wanted to know. They broke a gambling ring, made arrests from Boston to Miami, but after a year after they caught Colombian criminals with uzis, Jamie said they’re even and have to stop because the guy would be killed after all the criminals they caught. 

So many times Jamie was asked how it happened, and Jamie got many opportunities to testify about the power of prayer, of listening and obeying. Hearing and obeying God is like a muscle and building our spiritual muscles requires consistent discipline and routine and actively seeking God’s will. May we greet the new year, 2026, with an ardent desire to listen attentively, hear God’s voice and obey. Let God, the giver of every good gift, surprise us!