The kids were on the way that day. Most important of all, Silas was. Keith did not want me to wear myself out before he even got here so he said, “Don’t do anything--rest. You have a grandson coming. Besides, he’ll just make a mess anyway, so why bother spending time cleaning up?”
Pondering that, I realized that God didn’t think that way. He made a beautiful garden for his children. He made everything perfect. It was all “very good.” What if he had said, “They’re only going to make a mess of it anyway, so why should I bother?”
He bothered for the same reason I did—love. He wanted his children (and grandchildren) to walk with him in a clean and pretty place, a place they would enjoy being and maybe want to stay just a little longer.
So I did spend some time sweeping floors, putting up breakables, setting out the little wooden rocking horse, stuffed animals, and crayons, and filling the cookie jar with homemade cookies.
God did all of that for us too, in a metaphorical sense, hoping we would like the place so much that we would want to stay as long as possible. Yes, I know. He had a plan just in case we made a mess, but I keep a broom and a mop too. So?
Sometimes looking at how God might view things in the same way we might look at them helps us to see how he feels. Sometimes knowing the pain we might have felt if we were on the receiving end of selfish children can make us be just a little bit better. Knowing the trouble we go to because we love our children and grandchildren so much shows us just how much we can hurt an All-Powerful Being. That’s what makes the true God so different from the gods of myth. He is willing to be hurt by us. He will make himself vulnerable on our behalf. The next time you go out of your way for special guests in your home, and it is neither noticed or appreciated, remember how God feels when you do the same to him.
Today, enjoy the special things God has made for you, and be sure to thank him. Someday he wants to walk with us again in that perfect place he has prepared “from the foundation of the world,” and this time there won’t be any messes to clean up.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matt 7:7-11.
Dene Ward
Pondering that, I realized that God didn’t think that way. He made a beautiful garden for his children. He made everything perfect. It was all “very good.” What if he had said, “They’re only going to make a mess of it anyway, so why should I bother?”
He bothered for the same reason I did—love. He wanted his children (and grandchildren) to walk with him in a clean and pretty place, a place they would enjoy being and maybe want to stay just a little longer.
So I did spend some time sweeping floors, putting up breakables, setting out the little wooden rocking horse, stuffed animals, and crayons, and filling the cookie jar with homemade cookies.
God did all of that for us too, in a metaphorical sense, hoping we would like the place so much that we would want to stay as long as possible. Yes, I know. He had a plan just in case we made a mess, but I keep a broom and a mop too. So?
Sometimes looking at how God might view things in the same way we might look at them helps us to see how he feels. Sometimes knowing the pain we might have felt if we were on the receiving end of selfish children can make us be just a little bit better. Knowing the trouble we go to because we love our children and grandchildren so much shows us just how much we can hurt an All-Powerful Being. That’s what makes the true God so different from the gods of myth. He is willing to be hurt by us. He will make himself vulnerable on our behalf. The next time you go out of your way for special guests in your home, and it is neither noticed or appreciated, remember how God feels when you do the same to him.
Today, enjoy the special things God has made for you, and be sure to thank him. Someday he wants to walk with us again in that perfect place he has prepared “from the foundation of the world,” and this time there won’t be any messes to clean up.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matt 7:7-11.
Dene Ward
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