God bless my beautiful little grand-daughter. She cracks me up….
When the grand kids spend the night, we have these two little pup tents that are their sleeping space at bedtime. Violet’s happens to be in the living room. One night I tucked her in and after her story and song, I noticed she was chewing on something. Gum…… I told her she couldn’t sleep with gum in her mouth. No response from her but a turning of her head in the other direction. So, I told her the story of her auntie Rye Rye who I let go to sleep holding on to silly putty in her hand. When she awoke it was the strangest sight. All her hair was scrunched up tight on the side of her head in an awkward freaky way. Yep, that silly putty had made its way into her hair and caught every little piece of it and tangled it into one blob of a ball.. It took us hours of peanut butter, oil, and finally, gel bug and tar remover to get it off her head. It took the jaws of life to free her from the silly putty!!! I thought I had made a great convincing argument, but Violet, my grand-daughter, clenched her jaws tight. Finally I put out my hand and said, “give it.” At which point she defiantly, and with attitude I might add, said, “I don’t have it anymore.” Hmmmf! She had swallowed it. I gave up my mantra and said, “ Goodnight, I love you sweetie.” Then I moved to the couch and proceeded to read my book. And then I heard someone talking. “She never let’s me do what I want to do!” What??? As she repeated that like eight more times, I was like, she is talking about ME! This went on for quite some time, and shock turned to complete laughter that I had to stifle.
The idea that she was angry at me when I was trying only to protect her from harm, was so misguided and made no sense. Well she is three so…… But then I think about my life and my walk in the Christian faith, and I realize that I, like many of us, do the same thing.
When someone says things about me that are untrue, I want to defend myself, prove my point and battle my injustice. But God says, Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trail, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 and God also says, But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5:44
When someone wrongs me or hurts me, I want to hurt them back. I want them to feel the same pain they caused me. I want to get them back. But God says, Do not say, “I will pay you back for this wrong,” wait for the Lord and he will avenge you. Proverbs 20:22 and also…. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do good for each other and for everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 There are many more verses on this subject, but you get the idea.
I don’t want to forgive someone that has hurt me deeply. I want to hold that grudge and let them know just how wrong they were. But God says, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
And there are so many other examples I could give you. But why does God ask of me that which completely goes against my nature and my will? All of these things God asks of me are not to be mean, they are actually his way of protecting me! Just like the ten commandments. It makes me sad when people say the ten commandments show a bossy, controlling or conditional God. All ten of the commandments are meant to protect us from harm. When we break them, it brings grief and despair, not to mention the consequences we will have to live with.
Our God is a loving God, who cares deeply for his children. God, who is perfect, all knowing, all-powerful tries to guide us to make good choices that will protect us from harm.. But God gave us something more. He gave us free will to choose whether or not we want to heed his warning. It’s not a matter of, “He never lets me do what I want to do,” its that once you try it your way a few times you get really tired of pulling silly putty out of your hair.
I love my grand-daughter. I don’t want her to suffer the harsh consequences of actions she does not know will come from certain things. She is three, and it is my job to protect her. If a grandma can love her grand daughter so much, how much more can our Heavenly Father love us? When I listen to God, He tells me that same kind of thing. I have a choice to do it my way, or listen to the one who is trying to protect me.