Don’t park there….just don’t

A little insight into a part of me not many people know:  I’m stubborn.  Like bull headed stubborn…the type that will decide something and not let go of it unless you wrestle me to the ground and pry it from my dead cold hands.  (You think I’m joking?)

Another little tidbit of info: I’m rebellious….a little…just a tad.  If someone tells me not to do something….way back in the far reaches of my brain a small tiny little rebellious voice tells me to do it.

Now, I’m not full blown rebellious.  If you ask me to do something I’m not going to flip you off and yell “You don’t own me!!!”

You want to know an example:  the movie theater.  A few months ago Brent and I went to a movie and during the previews an ad came on about silencing your cell phone.  It used phrases like:

“Do you think your text message is important….well IT CAN WAIT”

“Don’t think that we won’t ask you to leave…BECAUSE WE WILL”

All the ad was doing was asking (actually, telling…they didn’t ask) me to silence my cell phone….but that ad caused something to RISE UP IN ME.  How dare that ad tell me what to do…. and what I imagined myself doing was turning around to the packed theater and yelling:

“They can’t control us!  Lift your phones in the air, we don’t have to take this!!!  Follow Me!”

I know that sounds insane…but all of us have this inside of us…maybe it never shows on the outside but we don’t like to be told what to do.  And maybe proof that most of us hate that is that the last movie I went to the same ad played but with much softer language…making silencing my phone feel like my idea.

Don’t boss me.

Ok, so that’s the back story on me… a little rebellious….a lot stubborn.

Brent and I live in a townhouse.  It’s a cute little New Orleans style home…we love it.  We have a garage in the back with ample room for two cars.  In the front we have a tiny yard, sidewalk and a mailbox.

I like a short cut, so often don’t feel like going all the way around to the back of the house, to have to push the button to the garage, pull in and have to close the garage.  I mean…. the drama of it all.  Plus we have a tiny little creature named Beans in our backyard that I would rather not have to deal with to get into the house.  So what I’m saying is…parking in the garage feels like running the gauntlet to me.  (I know…a little more insight into my brain)

So I started pulling up on the curb right outside the gate of our house.  It was a straight shot into the house…. 0.05 seconds and I’m in….no buttons to push…no tiny creature.

One day Brent came in the house and said, “Hey, can you quit parking right there?”

Now…hold back your judgment… but to be honest that request went in one ear and out the other.

I continued to park there.  Later that week Brent said, “Hey, didn’t I ask you to stop parking there?”  And, just like in that movie theater, I felt the phoenix rising from the ashes….that little rebellious child that lives in my brain came running to the forefront… “Why??  It’s not hurting anything??”  (insert eye roll)

And….don’t judge… I continued to park there.   I know right…. I’m actually ashamed of my nature sometimes.

One day Brent came in, sat down on the couch by me and said, “Hey, can I tell you why I don’t want you parking there?” and he motioned to my car that was STILL parked on the curb.

“Sure” I said.

“Well everyday when the mailman comes to our street, he has to park really far back on the curb and walk around your car and squeeze between it to put the mail in the mailbox.  And yesterday I saw him pull up, look at your car and roll his eyes.  Your car is blocking our mail box and making him have to do extra….that’s why I asked you not to park there.”

I instantly felt responsible.  That poor poor mailman…he was annoyed by me.  I was the thorn in his side.  I can see him every time he pulled into my neighborhood dreading my street…the one where the lazy woman parks right in front of the mailbox.

And guess what.  I NEVER PARKED THERE AGAIN.

Do you know why?  Because the light bulb came on in my mind that there was a reason behind the request Brent was making…my actions were causing something.  When I understood the reason, I all of a sudden understood why the behavior needed to change.

Track with me here.

Maybe God is telling us what He wants for our lives?  Is he shining a light on some of His commands and prodding us to be more obedient?  If he is, we may be rolling our eyes, annoyed that someone is telling us what to do.

When we read the Word of God, the stories, promises and His commands for our lives, we can easily slip into behavior modification mode.  Just make sure the outside matches the standard that’s been set, either by friends or family or the title “Christian”.  Sweep it all up, keep it all tidy and everything will be fine.  As long as it looks good on the outside we’re good.

Or maybe we feel the opposite.  Maybe the commands of God feel stuffy and restricting and a bit like jail.  When we read what God expects of us we decide we don’t want to go the full distance… it’s too much to give up and we would have to change too much.  Maybe the boundaries and call on our lives from God would feel like too much of a sacrifice.

You might take a “just don’t do it” stance.  Whether it’s teaching kids about sex, teaching about adultery, studying the ten commandments…whatever it is.  We simply teach “don’t do it”.  Don’t have sex before marraige.  Don’t cheat on your husband.  Don’t cheat on anything.  Don’t say mean things.  Don’t gossip.  When people in our lives make bad choices and engage in behaviors that are unacceptable…we look at them and say “just stop”.  But we never stop to think: why?  Why does God ask us to do and not do those things?

God desires TRUE HEART TRANSFORMATION.

He is not only after our behaviors changing.  Tweet This: He knows that if He can get our heart, our behaviors will follow.

Jesus taught about this concept in Matthew: 23:26-27

“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.…”

Doesn’t that just hit the nail on the head.

Why does God want us to be pure?  Why doesn’t he want us to covet our neighbor’s things?  Why does he want us to be obedient?  Why does he want us to give?

Don’t just do the behaviors…look into His word for the heart behind why.

He calls us to purity not just to keep us from something we enjoy, but to protect us from a world of pain, regret and brokenness.  He calls us to give, not just because He wants our money, but because He knows that when we give we become a part of His story of redemption for the whole world, and that ultimately we will be blessed.  He doesn’t want our obedience just because He wants a bunch of people He can order around, He knows that if we are obedient to Him our lives will be full, free, abundant and beautiful….Tweet This: through obedience we become who He has created us to be.

He doesn’t want our lives to be white-washed tombs… that look beautiful and do all the right behaviors.  He wants real change, true heart transformation.  He wants His children to be driven by the why behind His words…because if they are after the why they will encounter the true heart of God.

A heart changed by Him produces a change in behavior.  The light bulb will come on…and you will be motivated to  action….who knows…maybe you’ll stop blocking the mail man.