“I don’t have to get any shots, right?” A few weeks ago I took my 7-year-old for his doctor well visit, and of course my son’s fear was that he was going to have to get a shot. Almost 11 years ago, I thought there was nothing worse than having to hold your baby down while the nurse gave them a shot. It was me they saw when the pain came. I was the one holding them. I was the one not protecting them from the pain. But I’ve learned there are worse things than that: having to hold your 7-year-old down. Now, not only are you the one that they see when the pain comes. You are the one that they are begging to save them from what they know is coming. You are the one that has to say, “No” this is important.
Why do I hold my children and not give in to their pleas to not get a shot? Because I know that getting immunized is important both for their health and for the community’s health. (If you are someone who is anti-immunization – stay with me for the analogy to come, you’ll get it even if you disagree on the merits of immunization…) Could I have saved them from it? Yes. I could have said, “No” to the nurse, taken my son by the hand, and left. But I didn’t. I allowed that pain in his life and said no to his begging to not have to endure it, because I saw the big picture. He didn’t.
Sometimes instead of removing their pain, I hold them through it, I hug them, I cry with them, and I keep them safe. If I do that for my children in my limited earthly wisdom, how much more must an all-knowing, all-loving, perfect, sovereign God do that for us.
When my oldest was 3 he went through a stage where everyday he asked for ice cream for breakfast. I would reply, “No.” and get him something healthier to eat. He knew that ice cream tasted good and that he would really enjoy eating it. I knew that his body needed something with more nutrition to start the day. I heard his request, I met his need (that he was hungry) but not the way he wanted. Again, if I do that for my children in my limited earthly wisdom, how much more must an all-knowing, all-loving, perfect, sovereign God do that for us. (By the way, he asked everyday, because occasionally in my imperfect mothering I would give in because you know what that sounded good, and I wanted some too. So he was persistent in asking because today might be the day she says yes… that part of the analogy doesn’t extend to our perfect God.)
Today as I was reading Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word, I was reading/praying in a section on overcoming unbelief. One of Beth’s prayers got me thinking about all of this, so I’ll end quoting her:
“Dear Jesus, You told Your close followers, who were taught how to seek the Father’s heart, that whatever they asked for in prayer they were to believe they received it and it would be theirs. (Mark 11:24) O, Father, help me to know Your heart intimately so that I’ll know how to pray, and believe in advance that I will receive it!” (emphasis mine)
♥Becki
