Now, he is a chubby six-month-old (is there anything better than chubby baby wrists and arms?) that can sit by himself, almost crawl, babble nonstop, and smile. He has also learned to lunge for things that he thinks are interesting, and his two faves are the tv remote and mommy's cell phone.
He could be peacefully chilling in my arms, and then launch himself toward the counter or the couch or wherever it is he sees what he wants. He has no idea of the consequences of jumping out of the safety of my arms...there is only one thought: I want the shiny, pretty object. And I want to chew on it.
When I move him away from it, or take it away from him, that's when it happens.
The quivering chin.
The red face.
The REAL tears!!!
The real tears are the hardest for me to take.
When I see his frustration and pain, I want to immediately give him the object of his desire and say, "Have at it!" But I know that that is not what's best for him, even if he doesn't know it, so I hold him while the real tears stream down his cheeks (and sometimes down mine).
It hit me the other day how I am not so different from my little boy. I see something that I think looks pretty good, and decide that I must have it. Many times I pray that God would let such and such happen, or allow such and such into my life. And when the answer is no, and the thing doesn't appear, I can get frustrated. Did I not ask properly? Surely this is meant for me.
But perhaps God knows more than we do. (You THINK?!)
He sees the big picture, and knows that sometimes the cell phone with the pretty pink cover would harm us. That it might not be a good idea to chew on the batteries in the remote control, even though it looks like fun and might even make us feel smarter/prettier/funnier/more complete (momentarily, at least). He wants me (and you) to trust Him when He says no, and to rest in the safety of His arms.
I think it was Max Lucado who said that we see one page, while God sees the entire novel. We must trust that the way our life is unfolding is no surprise to God, and hold off on making a judgment until we know the whole story.
I have learned so much from reading My Utmost For His Highest, and I feel like I could quote Oswald Chambers every day. Please allow me, in closing, to share something from today's selection at www.myutmost.org.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer, He had the boundless certainty that prayer is always answered. Have we by the Spirit the unspeakable certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when God does not seem to have answered prayer? "Every one that asketh receiveth." We say - "But . . . , but . . ." God answers prayer in the best way, not sometimes, but every time, although the immediate manifestation of the answer in the domain in which we want it may not always follow.
