There was a blacksmith who had a young son who was very strong-willed and discontent. He always wanted to do more than his father would allow. One morning when the blacksmith was forging new horseshoes, the boy came to take a look at his dad’s work. “That’s close enough!”, the blacksmith told to the boy. “Those are still hot.” After a few minutes the young boy inched closer to the shoes that were lying on the bench cooling. “Son, those are too hot to handle, don’t touch them!”, the man scolded. Finally when the man wasn’t looking, the boy inched up to the finished horseshoes, grabbed one up and dropped it immediately, shaking his hands about. “See what happens when you are not satisfied with what I tell you! You got burnt didn’t you?” “In quiet stubbornness, the boy replied, “No sir, it just didn’t take me long to look at them.”
Question... doubt... second guess... ignore.. hurt.
Stepping stones down the road to frustration and pain.
Sometimes that’s us. We seek counsel from God... ask trusted Christian friends... read the Bible... fast... journal... come to church... pray... and the answer we are seeking is revealed time and time again.
God whispers... don’t touch. It’s too hot. What you are thinking is bad for you. That behavior in your life is destructive. You are going the wrong way. Stop talking like that. Quit living without hope.
God gives us His profound wisdom...an answer that would help us to avoid pain.
And we grab the horseshoe anyway.
Why? Because we don’t want to admit it... but some of us are stubborn. We have convinced ourselves that the consequences can’t possibly happen to us. That we are the exception to the same sin that has brought people down for centuries.
We aren’t alone... in the book of 2 Chronicles, God’s people were stubborn too. King Hezekiah was trying to invite the people of Jerusalem to share in a delayed Passover celebration. The hold up was due to a lack of qualified priests...and the people didn’t seem to notice. The king still deemed it important to observe the event so he sends a proclamation throughout the land. In it, he warns them to change their stubborn behavior.
2 Chronicles 30:6-9
“At the king’s command, runners were sent throughout Israel and Judah. They carried letters that said:
‘O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he will return to the few of us who have survived the conquest of the Assyrian kings. Do not be like your ancestors and relatives who abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and became an object of derision, as you yourselves can see. Do not be stubborn, as they were, but submit yourselves to the Lord. Come to his Temple, which he has set apart as holy forever. Worship the Lord your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. ‘For if you return to the Lord, your relatives and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you.’”
God told them to observe the Passover.
The people thought they knew better.
God told them to draw close and He would watch over them.
The people chose to stay away.
God wanted to bless.
The people decided they could live without it.
God wanted to love.
The people brought out His anger.
Don’t touch that horseshoe... it’s too hot.
I’ll just burn myself to prove that I know better.
Stubbornness will get in the way of our relationship with God. Each time we hear His truth and turn from it to do our own thing... it has to break His heart. I talk to so many that plead with God month after month for breakthrough. They ask me what they’ve done wrong... what they should be doing right... what it will take to make God happy... what they can do to be obedient and gain blessing...
But God has already given them that answer. Repent. Turn the other direction. Be generous. Serve. Love. Forgive. Extend grace. Believe. Grow. Discipline yourself.
Honor Him. Give glory to Him. Follow Him.
It’s not that the question has no answer. It’s that we don’t like the answer. We like our way. We touch the horseshoe to prove it’s hot. God says don’t...or change...or keep going...
We say why, when, and what?
Make a commitment to listen for God’s answer... and do whatever it takes to follow it. There will be many temptations to do your own thing...even with God’s answer in your mind. Resist. He knows best... He’s already ahead of you... He knows the result of your obedience to Him.
Seek. Listen. Discern. Trust. Obey.
Each one a stepping stone on the road to your God-potential.
