No Doubt

Do you ever wonder if God is real; if He is able to see you, hear you, or care about your circumstances? Do you ever feel like He is an impersonal Deity who doesn’t care about the details of your life?  We can all answer yes to these questions, is my guess. Why? Because we see God as a superhero and we are taught that God is LOVE, therefore, He should immediately come to our rescue and meet all our needs because that is how love is demonstrated, right?

Parents, you love your kids, but you know what happens if you always give them what they want when they want it, right? They just want more and more and they become difficult to live with and never learn coping skills or how to make the best of a situation where their perceived needs are not being immediately met. They may want things that are unsafe or unhealthy or that they are not mature enough to handle, yet. So we say “No” and teach them to accept our “No” as a gift of love because saying “Yes” would bring them harm, either immediately or eventually…. OR DO WE???

Here is a free parenting tip:  Don’t just say NO without explaining why. You want them to learn to reason right from wrong, not just memorize a list of “dos” and “don’ts.” If there isn’t time to explain, explain later. But always explain everything you can. That is the only way they will learn. They reach for the stove and you shout “NO!” They learn that you are angry when they reach for the stove, but they don’t learn that you love them and don’t want them to get burned unless you follow your “NO!” with an explanation. Got it?

Ok, back to the subject at hand…  I have had a few “No”s from God and a whole lot of “Wait”s.  I don’t like them. Especially because rarely is there an actual sense of Him communicating that to me. I have learned, however, that when God says nothing, either I am not listening or I have temporarily forgotten who He is. When I remember that He is indeed a good, good Father and I am loved by Him so much that He paid the ultimate price for me, I begin to deduce that I am in the waiting room for a good reason. And I may never know that reason. But it doesn’t matter, because He is in control and is certainly big enough to work things out according to His will.

Another analogy from parenting. On several occasions, one of our kids would not follow our instructions because she had a better plan. She never understood why that was a bad thing or why she had to endure the consequences because what she did, instead of what she was instructed to do, was an act of kindness and had a good outcome. True, she made someone happy, but she never attended to the responsibilities assigned to her and that created a whole other set of problems. My point is, doing good doesn’t mean we are listening and following God. It gives us the comfortable illusion that we are right where He wants us, and we miss what He really has for us. Be careful not to fall into that trap. “Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him and He will do it.” Psalm 37:5  What is “it?”  I don’t know, but it is better than what we do on our own.

Here is the bottom line. We want our kids to truly believe in and follow their Heavenly Father. We want them in Heaven with us someday. So teach them now about a good Father who cares about them enough to direct their path. Teach them by giving them direction; teaching them who God is; explain again and again the importance of listening and obeying you so that they learn to obey God, too. And most of all, draw closer and closer to Him now so that you are certain that you are on the path that He has ordained for you. Remember, it’s okay to wait or to not get what you asked God for because He is always right and always has a higher plan than what you or I can comprehend.

Believe and do not doubt that God’s plan is perfect and wait for Him to put things in order…. 

Even when it is really, really hard to do!

He’s got this!