I Know Better

And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest...” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Mark 1:42-45

Anytime I would go to visit my grandparents as a teen I would work with my grandfather. He drove a tractor and bush hogged for a living. If you don't know what that is, imagine mowing a large area with a tractor. One of his contracts was to bush hog the small county airport. Just before he set me loose on that tractor, he warned me not to mow too close to the runway lights, that it was easy to hit them. I listened, but I was fairly sure I could do it without any. As I mowed for the next hour I started getting closer and closer to those lights, taking particular pride in being able to get right up close to them without hitting any... right up until I did hit one. I cracked the post. The light hung limply with its head on the ground. I felt awful! What's worse is I had to tell my grandfather. He said that he knew I was going to hit at least one, and that he had hit plenty himself. He was hoping I would learn from his mistakes.  

Somehow, in my sinful pride, I thought I knew better than him. Someone who did this for a living, who had mowed this very airport many times before gave me sound advice, but I thought I knew better. So, I ignored him. I can't help but wonder how often we do the very same with God.  

In the passage above, Jesus heals a man of leprosy and sternly warns him not to tell anyone. That seems odd doesn't it? Why wouldn't Jesus want this man to share his testimony? Maybe this man thought Jesus was just being humble. We don't know. What we do know is that this man clearly thought he knew better than Jesus, because he spread the news around to everyone who would listen. 

"So what!" You might say. "His heart was in the right place. What harm was done?" The passage tells us exactly what harm was done by this man's disobedience. Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. He had to stay outside in desolate places. This one man's disobedience, even if well-intentioned, significantly impacted Jesus' life for the worse. He couldn't go into town to get food or to find a home to lodge in. If He did, the crowds would throng him. It must have been like the ancient equivalent of being followed by paparazzi and by crowds of adoring fans who all want something from you. So, Jesus had to stay outside, in desolate places. The disciples had to get his food and bring it back to him. He had to sleep out in the open air much more often now. All thanks to this one man's well-intentioned disobedience.

Be careful that you don't fall into the trap of thinking you know better than God. Even if God's commands don't make sense to you, obey Him anyway! He doesn't have to tell us His reasons. His purposes don't have to make sense to us. Our job is to simply obey. I mean do we really think we know better than God? Sadly, all too often, the answer in my own life has been yes. Learn from my mistakes.