We are His children...

I spent much of my time the last 2 days just looking at my son and all the antics he played through the day. This is a blessing for me as i usually don't get too much time (not as much as i want atleast) to play with him during a regular working week; i usually leave in the morning when he is still asleep and get back in the evening when he is sleepy. As i spent time with him over the last 2 days, playing with him, reading to him, talking to him, something struck me when my dear son got cranky...

My dear son was cranky because he was hungry, tired, sleepy or sometimes plain bored... but no matter how seemingly huge his uproar and refusal to be pacified by me, all it took to divert his attention was a small red pillow! Yup, that's right; one soft small red pillow. All i had to do was give it to him and no matter how cranky he was he immediately gave up his crying (having forgotten all his hunger /tiredness / sleepiness / boredom) and got lost with playing with the pillow (of course right now all he wants to do is put it in his mouth). Note that his hunger didn't disappear into thin air during that time, it just was forgotten for the moment...

But this got me thinking... Don't we act the same way many a times ourselves? We might try to mask it all we want, but the truth is a lot of times in our lives we are throwing a tantrum with the Gud Ole' Man or refusing to be what He wants us to be or do what He wants us to do - all under the pretext that we are not getting what we want in our lives (just like my son). And all He has to do is bring up an (another) issue in our lives or give us a small breather and we will have forgotten all about we throwing a tantrum in the 1st place for a while. Think about it - when was the last time you were downright out / stressed out and feeling low about something happening in your life (which you felt shouldn't be happening) and all it took was something else to come up (sometimes even just a friend calling us out to a movie) and you forgot all about it for that time?

Lets note again its not like the situation was dealt with by itself; but just that our minds allowed us to forget all about what was happening for some time. In short, all we needed was a diversion mentally in order to stop throwing a tantrum, start feeling better and get on with life; tackling challenges as they come.

What are you going to do the next time you feel low / stressed out / lost? The answer might just lie in stopping to worry about the issue at hand and giving ourselves a breather... Then refocusing our attention on the Gud Ole' Man and asking for His guidance with the situation.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." - Mt. 11: 28 - 30 (The Message)

 He did not say this for no reason! All we have to do is stop worrying, stop getting anxious and go to Him who gives us grace. And He will give us something else to play with (just like i gave my son the pillow) and take care of our issues while we are still distracted (just like my wife and i got lunch ready while our son was engrossed with the pillow)...

Don't get me wrong... I'm not suggesting that He will take away completely my worries / anxieties / troubles when i go to Him; though that's what He might choose to do at times. For even if he chooses to let us remain in those situations for then, know that He will give us what we need to tackle the situation; just like i put the pillow into my son's hands when he was bored. In short, we are never short of His grace in our lives; whether it be for Him to work a miracle that will change the situation we are in (and don't want to be in) or whether it be for Him to give us what we need to sustain the situation!

Its no wonder He refers to us as His children... Think about it...