“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?” (Luke 11:10-13)
But sometimes we think the snakes are the gifts. They appear in the most deceptive,appealing masquerades. Relationships. Clothes. Status. Jobs. Houses. Desires. We don’t feel complete peace about receiving the gifts but the human reasoning of the mind shouts loudly over the still small voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to the heart.
“I don’t have time to wait.”
“What if nothing else comes through?”
“I’ve always wanted ….”
“I don’t want to be alone.”
“That’s not what I hoped for”
“All my friends are getting….”
“I can’t take it anymore.”
When we resist waiting for God’s best for us, the result is a conflict which slithers itself through the biggest decisions as well as the routine moments of life. It’s a human problem attested by the narratives found in scripture. The golden calf wasn’t created as a decoration.
Waiting isn’t for the faint of heart. Sometimes, it stinks. But God wants to offer us not just the gift but Himself. It’s more than we asked for. It’s a reward that can’t be measured by human value; even if we get what we wanted. Because God knows we deserve better than a snake in disguise.
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Actually, when my brother brought his fiancee around for me to meet, I served them dinner. He and Laura were eep in conversation, so I slipped a plate in front of him which carried a dead baby rattlesnake.
Laura saw it first, and bust a gut laughing. Mike was less than amused.
Here in God’s waiting room,
a date cancer arranged,
I simply laugh at doom;
my friends think me deranged.
But really, it’s a choice,
mad or sad or happy,
and while I yet have voice,
I won’t use it being sappy.
They mostly want me to cry
and show my vulnerable side
but heck, I’m already going to die;
THAT vulnerability I can’t hide.
So I’m gonna go for broke
and take my leave with a joke.
#28 at FMF this week.
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2019/03/your-dying-spouse-596-reward-fmf.html
Waiting is so hard. Often I find myself wanting to fix things on my own because I know I can do it quicker. It only ends up making the situation harder though. I learn the hard way and then end up turning back to the One who can fix it way better than what I ever can. Visiting you from FMF #51.