My tall boys and little me.

At barely 5’3” tall (I convinced the DMV to round up to 3 inches for my license), I’m used to being patted on the head, being pushed to the front row of pictures, and never being able to see in a crowd. However, I refuse to ask strangers to grab things from the top shelf at the grocery store. People probably look at me funny, but I’ll do running leaps, use other items to knock the high stuff down, or climb the lower shelves and pray they don’t collapse. I don’t like feeling helpless. I want to grocery shop without the aid of others. I want things within my own reach and own power.

This stubborn determination to do things my way has gotten me into trouble.

When I was younger, I took a karate class where we practiced sparing. I’d been paired up with a boy about my size and weight, but he didn’t want to fight a girl. He lazily half-preformed all the movements, and I grew angrier with each languid punch. The sensei had just finished reminding the class that there was no contact allowed when I hauled back and slugged the kid as hard as I could in the shoulder. A loud thwack echoed through the dojo. All eyes riveted on me. After that, the boy sparred with me more seriously, but it was wrong for me to punch him. I had to do knuckle pushups as a punishment. 

green boa constrictor

What seems just and right to us isn’t always God’s will. Take Eve, for example. At the time, it probably seemed fitting that she should eat the apple. The serpent used false logic to reason why Eve should disobey God’s command not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. He twisted God’s words saying, you won’t really die. God just doesn’t want you to eat the fruit because it would make her like Him, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3). The snake convinced Eve that God was holding out on her, not allowing her to reach her full potential or experience something she deserved. What might have seemed right or just, at the time, led to a lifetime of pain, suffering, and death for generations to come.

We want to feel smart and in control. We want to believe we’re fighting for fairness, but before we take matters into our own hands and eat an apple or make a fist and throw a punch, maybe we should ask God what he thinks of our situation—pray on it a bit—seek God’s wisdom before we make a move. If we ignorantly choose human intelligence over Godly wisdom, we can wind up with greater consequences than a few knuckle pushups.

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