Putting a Puzzle Together Upside-Down

We learned about I Samuel 13: 8-14 today in Children's Church. I say we because I learn just as much as the children, if not more. One of the projects was to make their own puzzle by coloring one side of an 8 x 10 piece of paper, tearing it into pieces, turning it upside down and then moving it to their neighbor. They then had 60 seconds to put the puzzle together upside-down. Then, they were to turn the puzzle pieces over and again they had 60 seconds to put the puzzle pieces together. It was a fun project and the object was to see that it is much easier to put a puzzle together when we see what we're working with. Of Course God knows the whole picture, past, present, and future. He sees everybody and everything involved inside and out. We have no idea and must trust God in ALL things. This part of scripture tells us that Saul took it upon himself to offer a sacrifice. He was supposed to wait and let Samuel do this. A simple thing. Nothing wrong with offering a sacrifice. In fact, it's a good thing in the old testament to offer sacrifices. But the point was, Saul was told not to. Because of his disobedience he lost a whole kingdom. One of the children asked, Why wasn't he suppose to offer the sacrifice? Well I'm definitely not a Bible scholar and couldn’t answer her question. But the point wasn't why, it was to obey even if we don't know why. A very valuable lesson.

Case and point: A grade school age child is told to wait in front of school for their mom to pick them up. This child has strict instructions not to take a ride with anybody, but to wait. The mom is running late and a neighbor offers to take this child home. Now this child knows their neighbor and their parents are good friends. Nothing wrong with taking a ride with their neighbor, except of course the mom said not to.

So the child takes a ride with the neighbor. The mom shows up and the child is not there. The mom goes home to find the child at home safe and sound.

What happened? Because of the child's disobedience the consequences were this child did not get to go to grandmas for a week, get to spend time at an amusement park or the water park. The mom was planning to surprise her child by bringing her to meet the grandparents who stopped by on their way to their vacation.

This is a silly illustration, but it's an example of our disobedience to our almighty God who wants the best for us. I'm so grateful God is in control. Please forgive me Lord for not always being obedient. Please help me Lord to always keep my eyes on you and listen to your words of wisdom.