Another Lesson From The Kids

My sister gave my kids some cute little hooks for Christmas. They are little peg-type hooks, with a decorative background. She hand painted them each - including each child's name. It was so special for the kids to have something so unique and "all theirs" to put up in their room!

It was while my husband and I were hanging them, that we learned our lesson from the kids. I should clarify a bit...my husband is more than capable of hanging hooks all by his big-boy self. I'm just there as an...advisor. He calls me the "architectural committee". To put it simply, I tell him where to hang the picture, hook, shelf, etc. He hangs said thing.

Back to the story..."we" were hanging the hooks. The kids were having a grand old time "helping". First, they mistakenly thought that they were part of my architectural committe. I had to remind them that I am a committee of ONE. They can decide where things go in their room if they're put up with tape...I get to decide when screws or nails are involved. And once the project had been turned over to Daddy, Benjamin went on and on and on and ON...describing to Daddy just how to do his job.

Now, my husband is the single most patient human being I've ever known. I'm not kidding. He amazes me with all the chatter and poking and tickling and teasing and "help" he can tolerate! He's made for this "Daddy" gig!

But during this particular project, the chatter and the suggestions and the "NO DADDY, you do it like this"...well, it got to be too much for even my wonderful man. And being the man that he is, and knowing a few things about what the Bible says, my Dear Hubby turned to my eldest son and said,

"BE STILL, BEN. Be still and know that I am Daddy."

Ben got the hint, and Hubby and I giggled to ourselves over that one all afternoon!

As I mulled it over, I realized just how much of an irritating and know-it-all "helper" I must be to my Father! I blush to think of how much time I spend offering...suggestions. Suggestions...to the Almighty Creator of the Universe! I have to be reminded on a regular basis that He too is His own committee of one. THE One!

With that little lesson in my mind, I am going to try to spend more time just being still in Him. He's got things taken care of, and He really doesn't need my help! Not only does He not need my help, but if I'm spending my time with Him telling Him all about how I think things should be...I'll miss it! I'll miss seeing the beauty and peace in the way He does it.

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I should say that I planned to end this post here. It's cute and tidy and easy. But what follows kept nagging at the back of my brain, so I thought I'd better put it out there. It turns this post into more of a "mess", emotionally speaking...but I think it's important to think about.

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And what about the times when I can't find the beauty or peace? What about those times when I'm convinced that He's made a terrible mistake or is on vacation or something? The times when all I can see and feel is pain? Oh, c'mon, don't tell me I'm the only one who thinks that from time to time?!

I guess I'll just do my best to trust Him then too. What are my options, really? I can either believe:

1. He's not real

2. He doesn't care

3. He's not capable of keeping me from pain

4. He's real, he cares, and he's capable, but for some reason He's allowing this suffering in my life. He's still in control of the big picture, He's with me through the pain, and something good will come of my suffering.

It still hurts. It's still hard to understand. I still get angry with Him (justified or not). But I believe #4 to be the Truth (yes, that Truth with a capital "T"). And honestly, thinking that He's not real, doesn't care, or isn't capable of taking care of me...all of those options are even more scary and hurtful than #4! Yep, I'm going with #4.

How about you? Will you join me in "being still" and resting in Him? Will you trust Him in your pain? Can you trust a real, capable, and loving God who allows you to suffer? It's hard, I know. But like I said earlier, what are other choice do we have?

P.S. I'm glad that the Bible isn't silent on this. It talks about suffering here, here, here, here, here and many other places.