Nancy Hughes: Read the instructions!

“Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” Proverbs 16:20 (NIV)

It seemed like a harmless idea, really. A canoe trip in two days with my daughters and granddaughters. Beautiful weather, lots of laughter and just being together. Great food, great fun and only one problem: everyone had a gorgeous tan - but me.

That’s when I remembered a gift I had gotten for my birthday. It was a bottle of self-tanning mousse. I also vaguely remembered my granddaughters telling me that you simply rub it on and within an hour a “real looking” tan would appear. “Just read the instructions, Grandma,” they told me. Somehow I failed to remember that part until much later.

 

I found the bottle and thirty minutes later the mousse was applied. Forty minutes later I totally forgot that I had used it. Until the next morning. I followed my usual routine of working out at the gym, visiting with some friends after I was done, and driving home before I realized that I hadn’t checked out my “real looking” tan. I hurried inside to see my results.

Staring back at me in my full-length mirror was a half woman/half zebra! What in the world had happened?! There were stripes of brown alternating with white up and down my legs! My arms were tan on top but underneath they were the same pale color before I tanned! My hands looked like I had on dark brown gloves! I grabbed the bottle of mousse and did what I should have done in the first place: I read the instructions.

“Apply mousse with your tanning mitt” (so that’s what that thing is for), “wait at least one hour before showering” (guess overnight is a bit longer than one hour), “be sure to cover all areas of skin equally that you want to be tan” (evidently it doesn’t soak into nearby areas of skin), and “be sure to thoroughly wash your hands if you do not use the mitt” (I wonder how long a “real looking” tan will stay on the palms of hands).

All I had to do was to read - and follow - the instructions. But in my wisdom and my timeline of wanting to get it done immediately, I had neglected that most important part of the process. And the glances that my friends had quietly sent my way at the gym were undoubtedly due to their realization of what I had done - or not done. Mercy.

We must also be discerning when we are given instructions in this world. Remember, we will never get instructions grounded in truth from society. There will be half-truths and lies coated in what sounds right but Truth for our lives only comes through the instructions given to us in God’s Word - the Bible. As Romans 15:4 tells us: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.”

The result of my neglecting to read and follow the self-tanning instructions? A temporary discomfort: wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts in the heat of summer until the self-tanning mousse faded. But more importantly, not reading and following the instructions in the Word of God can be disastrous! Remember: He will never leave out a step, He will never steer us in the wrong direction and He will always lead us on the correct path when we read the instructions!

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

Have you ever found yourself faced with a situation that needed answers only found in God’s Word?

Did you search for His instructions or did you go ahead on your own?

Apply

Keep a journal and write down situations you are facing daily that need answers.

Search the Scriptures, write down instructions from the Lord for each need and pray over each one.

Power

Proverbs 16:20 (NIV) “Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.”

Romans 15:4 (NIV) “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.”

Psalm 119:165 (NIV) “Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)