Does your husband read the directions before putting something together? Does he pay someone else to do it? Some of the funniest sitcoms have been about this very thing…following instructions.

I like instructions. I can follow the steps to completing a task. When I sew, the patterns are excellent instructions. They tell you what to do and in what order to do it. If you follow those instructions, you end up with a lovely garment, if not, well we won’t go there, let’s just say it is diaster.

In the Word, we find our Abba God gives great instructions. Look at the blueprint for the Tabernacle in the wilderness. Our Father God is clear in every tiny detail. (Most folks skip reading it, it’s just too much information.)

Or take the building of the temple. Solomon knew exactly what to do. Or even how to transport the Ark of the Covenant. It was to be carried, not placed on a cart. Poor Uzziah found out the hard way and it scared King David. He left it for a season and then returned for the Ark. This time when he moved it, David followed God’s instructions.

We could keep on going and going. God cares about the smallest details of life, our lives. We have the Word to go to and get an idea of what Abba expects. I think that He uses people and circumstances too…we just have to be in sync with Him.

I can’t begin to count the times that still small voice spoke inside me and I disregarded it, thinking that it was just me and not Him speaking. I can’t count the times I’ve blatantly ignored Him giving me instruction through His Word. So why does an “instruction lover” like me ignore His voice instructing me?

Paul David Tripp says it is that sin problem that lives within all of us. I think we like to believe we aren’t as sinful as the other person around us, but we are. The most liberating realization I think I’ve had is that, “I’m indesperate need of The Savior every single day”.

What I need is Him. What I need is that set of instructions, that love letter, the Bible, The Word. Following Him, listening to Him…now that’s real instruction.