Pictured above is my son Landon (on right) and his friend
Cooper (on left). This picture was taken the day of their preschool graduation.
What is that on their forehead you ask?
Ohhhh the large scabs are nothing other than the carpet burn that they
both gave themselves. Yes, I said GAVE
THEMSELVES. These two crazy boys had the
bright idea to rub their heads on the carpeted rug in their classroom as fast
as they could, and this was the result. And
of course they chose the week of their graduation to carry out this bright
idea. An idea that they had already been told earlier in the year not to
do.
I was frustrated with Landon when his teacher messaged me at
work to let me know what he had just done.
My frustration wasn’t simply because his graduation was Friday and now
he would have a huge scab in all of his pictures, but more so I was upset because
Landon and Cooper both had been told previously in the year not to do this. I couldn’t help but think had they both just
been obedient and not followed through with something they had been told not to
do, none of this would be an issue.
And of course, this where God decided to teach me something.
He does this to me often. He uses the
things in my life to teach me practical truths about Him.
I couldn’t help but think of all the times in my walk with
God where I have been called to do something or not do something and my
disobedience directly affects my life. If
l listed all the ways that I have been disobedient since I began my walk with
Him three years ago we would be here all day.
So many times God has called me to do something or not to do something
and I honestly didn’t understand why. Often I chose to do my own thing, simply because
his direction and instruction didn’t make much sense to me, and every single time
I am left wishing I had been obedient.
I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because
just like me, Landon chose to do his own thing that day. See, here’s the thing that God showed me in
that moment. I knew without a doubt Landon
didn’t think about the fact that he would be participating in a graduation in
just four days. I am also sure he didn’t have a clue that it could even leave a
possible scar on his little head that he would carry for the rest of his life,
however Landon did know that he had been asked not to do this, but he chose to
do it anyway. My sweet little boy couldn’t
see the big picture, but his teachers could. Landon didn’t understand the
reasoning behind the instruction he had been given, it didn’t make sense to him
why he shouldn’t do it, so he chose to do what he wanted instead of what was
better for him.
Doesn’t this remind you of God and yourself? So many times
God instructs us to do or not something because he knows what is best for our
lives, but because we can’t see the big picture or see what the affect our
choice could have on our life, we do our own thing. If you are a parent I imagine this post is
one that you can relate to completely. So
many times we give our children instruction, not because we want to be bossy or
because we just love to tell people what to do, but instead we do this because
we can see the bigger picture and we know what is most beneficial for them. If you do this with and for your children
because of the love you have for them, imagine how much more it is true about
God and his love for us.
Look, I know sometimes God’s instruction doesn’t make any
sense to us and we think doing our own thing is better. Sometimes when we can't see the purpose behind the instruction it's hard for us to be obedient, and to be honest the more I read the bible the more I realize it
was the same way over 2,000 years ago. The week this happened with Landon and
his friend Cooper I came across the story of the day that Jesus called his
first Disciples. In Luke Chapter 5 Jesus
meets these two guys in a boat who were fisherman, they had fished all night
and caught nothing and then Jesus shows up on the scene and instructs them to
put down their nets for another catch. These
guys did this for a living, it wasn’t as if they were amateurs at this fishing
gig, and then out of nowhere shows up this Jesus, a guy they really didn’t know
and tells them to do the same thing that they had been doing all night with no
success. It doesn’t make much sense to
me so I know it didn’t to them. But in verse 5, I was blown away by their
answer. It says “Simon answered, “Master
we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say
so, I will let down the nets” ……BUT BECAUSE YOU SAY SO I WILL!! Ya’ll if you keep reading the story you will
see that not only did they finally catch fish, but they caught so much that
their boats began to sink. I don’t know
about you, but I would venture to say that those two guys didn’t regret
listening to God’s instruction that day.
Landon’s self-inflicted carpet burn was such a clear
reminder to me of the affect that disobedience can have on our life, but this
story about Jesus and these fisherman encourages me that even when things don’t
make sense my obedience can change my life. God has an abundant life for me and
for you, but we have to be willing to let Him give it to us.
