“You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him.” A.W. Tozer

Listen and obey. It was a simple request. Listen and obey. After all, it was in my best interest. All I had to do was listen and obey. To most, it would have seemed obvious, but I was six years old and at six, curiosities cancel the obvious.

So, here is what happened. My dad had a coat rack that kept falling over because the bottom was not heavy enough to stand when a heavy coat was hung on it. He decided that the best solution was to melt some lead and fill the hollow rack with it. We were in the garage. He told me that the rack was hot and that I was not to touch it. I believed him. I could see him melting and pouring the lead into the rack, and so I went out into our yard to see what I could find that seemed interesting. It might have only been 15 minutes, maybe a half an hour, before I came back to the garage where my dad was working. He had his back to the coat rack, and I wondered…is it still hot? Dad told me not to touch it, but that seemed like so long ago. I wondered and watched, with one eye on my dad’s back and one eye on the coat rack. I then made the decision. I reached out with both hands and grabbed the rack. Yes, I used both hands, not just the tip of a finger, but both hands. The heat that radiated from the rack was so great that it caused my hands to stick. I very quietly and quickly peeled my hands from the rack. My hands were red and felt as if I had touched fire. I quickly went inside our house and straight to the bathroom. I thought maybe I could wash the pain away. I turned on the water and then grabbed the soap. The cool water felt good on my burning hands. After a couple of minutes, I stopped washing and tried to dry my hands. It was at that point that I realized that my hands were still burning. I let out a cry for help and soon my mom, once she had enough of the story out of me, had my hands cooling in a bucket of ice water. I was very fortunate. My hands did not blister nor do I have any physical scars from the event. If only I would have just listened and obeyed.

In Genesis 22, Abraham was asked by God to do the unthinkable. Yet, he chose to listen and obey all the while trusting that God had his best interests in mind. Every day we make choices. Abraham is the example of a person who practiced living a life that pleases God. May you find the joy and strength that comes from listening and obeying God, for He truly has your best interests in mind.

Thanks for reading.