After nearly 72 hours of gastrointestinal distress, my favorite little 10-month-old was understandably cranky. As I attempted to put him down for a nap, which he desperately needed, he proceeded to complain loudly and arch his back in such a way that he became nearly impossible to hold. Basically, he refused to be comforted. When I put him down, his protests were even louder and more pathetic.
How often do we respond to God this way? He is trying to give us what we need, in the most gentle way, but we think what He is giving us isn't what we want. Mostly because we don't know what we want. We murmur loudly, on repeat, about what we think we need. But He knows. Oh, how He knows. And how we get in the way of what could be such a sweet time, held in secure arms, because we think we know better.
Think about it. What concerns dominate our prayer lives? Have our conversations with God become a one-sided litany of complaints, in which we endlessly state and restate our requests for one or two things we feel He is withholding? Such interactions must grieve the heart of God, who wants to comfort us with His presence even while we are busy demanding some temporal blessing or short-sighted solution to our perceived problems.
Heaven will not be the place where all of our earthly requests are granted. It will be the place where they just... don't... matter.
As believers, we should be living Heaven on Earth. Showing the world what it means to be satisfied in God alone. Trusting that even when we don't understand His requirements or His timing, we can rely on His goodness. And believing if we stopped complaining at Him long enough, we just might realize we already have everything we need.
How often do we respond to God this way? He is trying to give us what we need, in the most gentle way, but we think what He is giving us isn't what we want. Mostly because we don't know what we want. We murmur loudly, on repeat, about what we think we need. But He knows. Oh, how He knows. And how we get in the way of what could be such a sweet time, held in secure arms, because we think we know better.
Think about it. What concerns dominate our prayer lives? Have our conversations with God become a one-sided litany of complaints, in which we endlessly state and restate our requests for one or two things we feel He is withholding? Such interactions must grieve the heart of God, who wants to comfort us with His presence even while we are busy demanding some temporal blessing or short-sighted solution to our perceived problems.
Heaven will not be the place where all of our earthly requests are granted. It will be the place where they just... don't... matter.
As believers, we should be living Heaven on Earth. Showing the world what it means to be satisfied in God alone. Trusting that even when we don't understand His requirements or His timing, we can rely on His goodness. And believing if we stopped complaining at Him long enough, we just might realize we already have everything we need.
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