Ouch
- Jerry Witham
- May 8, 2008
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Ouch! It was actually much more than that coming from my son on this Monday night, as he touched a good friend of ours hot grill. Noah had been warned earlier in the evening to not touch the grill. Well his curiosity got the best of him and he did it anyway. He was in some heavy tears due to the pain. His hand got cared for and doctored up. By the next morning he was in good shape.
On our way to school the next morning he said, Dad, my hand looks like God's hand. I said, How? He said, Jesus' hands had nails go through them. My hand looks like that. Noah's hand does not have a hole in it, but it is scarred a little from the event from the night before. I said to him, Noah, you can remember what Jesus did for you on the cross all day today, as you look at your hand. Noah agreed.
I then shared with Him about divine sovereignty and human responsibility. He is five years of age, so I did not quite use that terminology. I shared with him how God used his wrong choice to touch the grill for good. I shared that God had a purpose in him touching that grill. The first being a lesson to listen to his father. The next was to show him that grills are hot and can hurt you when hot. There was even a bigger purpose. He gave Noah a small taste of Jesus' pain. Touching a hot grill pales in comparison to the pain Christ suffered, but for a five year old it sunk in. It also gave Noah a small glimpse of what had to happen for sin and death to be conquered. Simply put, Noah was given a way to remember what Christ did for him. The scar was a message for him on this day.
Did God want Noah to touch that grill? No way! He loves Noah and wants the best for Noah. But Noah has freedom to choose. On Monday night Noah chose wrong. God uses trials, bad times, and even pain to show us more of Himself. This week God chose to show Noah nail pierced hands of His own Son through a burn (scar) due to touching a hot grill. I am personally praying that Noah makes better decisions and learns about the nail pierced hands of Christ in more traditional means.
