Pretty Please with Sugar on Top?

So I was out working in the yard, where God often speaks to me, and he told me something. It really didn't have anything to do with what's going on in my life (as far as I know) or a topic that was on my mind, but there it was in my head. So I wondered what I should do with it. It's not an answer to a question and I'm not preparing to speak anywhere (thank goodness!) but maybe I'm supposed to share it. Where can I share it? Say I know.....

If you are a parent then you probably have a similar experience to mine - children asking you to get them things for their birthday or Christmas - Barbies, bikes, trampolines, puppies, a Red Ryder BB gun. Often my children have asked for things that I have no intention of buying them. Like the cheap plastic flashlight/light saber at the circus where they charge like $10 for something I could get for $2 at the store and it will be broken by the end of next week. Some of it's just junk and I'm trying to spare them the tears when it breaks. Or there's the flashy noisemaking thing they just saw on tv and can't even remember the name, but, oh, it lights up and spins and walks and talks and drinks and burps. And they will be bored with it after the first day. And then there's the stuff that they just can't learn to use wisely no matter how many chances they get, for us that's the swords. At first I let them get them. "Yeah, Mom, we know we can't hit with them and we have to be careful not to hurt anyone with them and if we do you'll take 'em away." They rarely make it through a day. We don't buy those anymore.

Sometimes we're like that with our heavenly Father. "I really love him, why doesn't he love me? Please, God, can't you make him love me?" "I love this house, why can't I have it?" "God, if you let me win the powerball, I promise I'll give the church half." From our point of view the object of our desire is beautiful, shiny and will make us happy. Why wouldn't God want to make us happy?


Probably because from his view he can see that that relationship, just like a cheap toy, will fall apart and make us cry. He wants to protect us. And the perfect house, or job, or car like a flashy but useless toy, will make us happy for a little bit, but it's not what we really need and soon we'll want something else to fill our emptiness. He wants us to look to Him to fill our needs.


And why won't God let me win the powerball. I really, really want to give most of it away to church and missionaries. I really do want it to serve His purposes, so why not? Maybe because he knows we can't use it wisely. Because we will begin to worship it instead of Him.


Sometimes I do let my children have these things they ask for, because they just won't understand why they're not good and I see that they will have to learn it for themselves. And our Father God does the same. We keep whining and nagging. It's not that we wear him down like a human parent might be, but he sees that we'll have to learn for ourselves - the hard way.


He's a good dad. When our new toy doesn't do what we hoped He doesn't say, "I told you so." He just opens His arms and holds us and gives us what we really need. Him.