Easter 2013 meltdown
Since Father’s Day last month and my son Benjamin’s birthday last week, I’ve been thinking about how being a dad has given me a little better understanding of the patience God as our Father has with us, His children. One example in particular struck me.
Benjamin is a joy to be around and I’m so proud and honored to be his dad. He truly is a gift from God. He’s funny, he’s smart and he has a great imagination. However, as with any 3 year old, we are always only minutes away from a meltdown over something very minor like “I wanted to flush the potty,” “I don’t want to take a bath,” or “I want to wear the Superman shirt” even though he wore it all day yesterday and got dirt, sunscreen and food stains on it. (He would wear that Superman shirt for 100 days straight if he could).
Usually in the middle of a tantrum he says, “I just want to be happy.” It’s hard not to laugh but we try to patiently tell him that he can be happy and that what he is upset about is no big deal. We get him to stop, take a deep breath and calm down. It usually works and he is just fine a few minutes later.
As parents, it’s easy for Amy and me to get frustrated because we can easily see that 99 percent of time what he is upset about is very temporary and is no big deal in the grand scheme of things.
But that got me thinking, isn’t that how we often act toward God when we don’t get recognized for good work, when we feel like no one cares, when things don’t go how we expected, or when we are facing a challenge?
We lose perspective and think the world is ending because we are facing a challenge that maybe God is using to grow us and strengthen our faith and dependence on Him. We let fear and anxiety take control and basically throw up a prayer, saying in so many words, “I just want to be happy.”
All the time, God is like the ever-patient parent who sees the big picture and says “Everything is going to be OK. Just take a deep breath, trust in Me and follow Me.”
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” – Jesus in John 14:1 NLT
Reboot Wilderness Adventures 