Trust and Obey

Nothing comes to mind faster of the example of how we should all trust and obey our Heavenly Father as a summer day that was pain and agony for my little brother.

My brother and I are four years apart, but we have always been very close to one another and very protective of each other .... and on this particular day I learned a very good lesson that I took to heart...

When we were growing up we lived on a big piece of property where we had plenty room to roam and happen upon an adventure. My brother’s favorite spot for a while was my dad’s little fishing boat. Simple little boat and motor with anchor and seats for every member of the family and even storage compartments for the fish we caught under each seat. My brother loved to climb up in that boat and make use of every inch of it when he escaped into his fishing journey each day. After a while my dad adopted a pet peeve that he reluctantly had made mention to him.

" Son... I don’t mind if you play in my boat, but when you get out of that boat you put that anchor back in that boat. Don’t leave that boat til you put that anchor back in the boat!!"
So everyday he went on his fishing trip and when he would make his way back from his daily journey he would pull the anchor back up in the boat and everything was fine.

Well, one day my little brother hopped into the boat to set sail again, and I was playing on the back porch. In a little while I could hear my brother screaming and crying horrificly. I looked up to see that he was waving and wailing his hands all around. I hollered out to him, " what’s wrong!" as I started to run out to him to see what was happening. The closer I got to him the more apparent the huge cloud of wasps were surrounding him and attacking him.

I stopped dead in my tracks and started screaming and crying, " Run! Run! Run! Get out of the boat!! Run ! Run! Please run!! All the while being stung and attacked by the fog of wasps he was pulling in that anchor. He didn’t leave that boat until the anchor as pulled in.

Isn’t that amazingly honorable! I am sad to say that I probably would have said heck with this. I’ll get a spanking, and that is our natural sinful nature, to think of ourselves and dismiss instruction. What an honor for a child to listen and obey his father no matter how bad it hurt him and how bad of pain it may cause him for the days to follow.

This is what we should strive for with our Heavenly Father. What an honor to lay down at his feet. Even though we may not understand the importance or the instruction, we should trust and obey! God used this experience to speak to my heart and it has never left my thoughts.

Even though we do not understand it always works out to His honor and glory! Little did my lil’ brother know he was obeying God’s instructions( Col.3:20 Children, obey your parents in everthing, for this pleases the Lord.)( Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother - which is the first commandment with a promise- that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on earth.)

He will be rewarded for his trust and obedience. (Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.) We should strive to trust and obey not only our earthlt mother and father, but our Heavenly Father as well. Not to gain rewards for ourselves but to have rewards to lay down at his feet when we go empty handed to meet our Father.

Copyright 2006 Brandi