Carpet Burns and Obedience

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.