It was entertaining. Plus, I’d always wondered about this subject. Tell me more. After all, “Inquiring Minds Want to Know.”
The topic? Hypnosis. At the end of a long day, I unwound in front of a fascinating show on the practice. The presenter was a man of science and reason and a masterful practitioner. Okay, you’ve got my attention.
Yet the more I partook of the infotainment, the more I knew I needed to shut it off. It was interesting, but I knew the voice of my Beloved, and He called me higher.
Irritated at the intrusion on my time, I watched for a few more mesmerizing minutes. But the beckoning continued. Turn it off. You don’t need to know. Reluctantly, I obeyed … at last.
Although I had outwardly complied, my mind continued to fight. But I like knowing. I want to know, I whined. However, as my will wrestled with God’s, I had a sudden flash of clarity. This was nothing less than the ancient struggle in the garden. How had I missed it? I wanted to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil more than I wanted the sweet, simple fruit of the Tree of Life. And my motivation? Eating of that tree so I could be wise. Oh my. That choice certainly didn’t turn out well in Eden. I thanked God for sparing me yet another spin on the painful merry-go-round of my foolish curiosity and pride.
Following my epiphany, I embraced God’s direction, seeing it as a valuable safeguard instead of an annoying constraint. I surrendered to the beckoning to be with my Lord for a while, eating peacefully from the Tree of Life instead of gobbling greedily from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The next time I feel God’s prompting, even if it’s annoying and precisely what I do not want to hear, I hope I follow a little more quickly. After all, what I really want is life.
Even when we think we know what will bring us life, we’ll be happier in the long run when we defer to God’s judgment on the matter.
Sarah Cutright is a nurse turned therapeutic mom, turned writer. Beyond that, she is a passionate over-thinker, a dreamer, and a total nerd. She is also a wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, and child of God.