Following The Chain of Command

There are many aspects of life that have been hard for me to assimilate. One of these is the place of, and the importance of f0llowing the chain of command. As I have thought and prayed about it, it has become evident to me that I have not been very successful at following, nor have I been obedient in the area of taking my place in the chain of command.
In our society this is an endemic problem. Children are taught to question every decision made by those whom God put in the chain, wives are taught to be "their own person", and men are portrayed as useless accessories in the chain, or at best the necessary evil for the purpose of producing more children who will then be taught to "do their own thing". In the process each one ends up stepping out from under the umbrella of protection that God has placed for him/her, and the result is anarchy. In the words of the book of Judges "everyone did as he saw fit".
Thankfully, there is still a remnant of those who are willing to follow God's Chain of Command. It is not easy, and I, for one, have stumbled over it all too often, but it does bring God's blessing.
In reading a chapter a day, Mary and I have just read Numbers 14, and I was struck with the fact that when Moses interceded for those who had stepped out of the chain and rebelled against Moses, God said "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless as surely as I live, and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times--not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it." (Num. 14:20-24) We read later in the chapter that when Moses announced to the people what God's verdict was, they did two things: They mourned bitterly as if to say, together with the whole world system, "don't we have a First Ammendment?" Where is our "Freedom of Speech?". Their next act? Direct disobedience. They decided to strike out on their own, ignoring not only the Main Leader as designated by God, but the very one who had given him his orders for them, God Himself.
God's response was quick and to the point. He made them withstand the consequences of their mutiny against God, and His appointed leader, and that very day, having gone up in their presumption, thus stepping out from under God's umbrella of protection, they were severely beaten by the Canaanites and Amalekites. This had two results: God's Name was besmirched, and many individuals died.
I've often wondered, (because I know more about my heart than you do) whether I would even have survived childhood if God had dealt with me in this manner.
Two facts stand out to my attention: 1) I am no better than the Israelites who chose to disobey God's chain of command. 2) But PRAISE GOD He has covered me with Christ's righteousness, and I am protected by Him.
We, as followers of Christ, and in an attitude of thankfulness, need to make it a discipline to remain under the umbrella of protection that only God's Grace can provide. To do otherwise may not bring about punishment, but it certainly will bring about a loss of God's blessing and protection, all because of our willfulness and self sufficiency.