Faith like a child…

At mealtimes lately, we have been praying “God is great…God is good…let us thank him for our food” in unison so that the kids would stop arguing about who prays first. (maybe not the best solution, but hey…) Anyways, the other day, I asked the kids to pray for our health too, especially with all the H1N1 going around. They did, started to eat their lunch, and I headed into the kitchen..

About 30 seconds later, Madi says, “Moooommm…” and I go into the dining room expecting to solve some minor issue, like a dropped spoon or gooey finger. Instead, she asks me, “Does God do what we ask Him to do?”

Great. One little prayer about the flu, and I have to put on my theologian hat.

My first instinct was to just say “yes” and be done with it, but what if we DO all come down with the flu? Images flitted through my head of Madi laying on the couch and saying, between coughs, “…but Mom, we prayed that we wouldn’t get sick!”

“Ummmm…” (trying to buy some time)

What do I say? How do I explain something that I find difficult to understand myself sometimes? That God doesn’t always answer in the way you expect…or that sometimes He gives you what you need for that moment and not always what you think you need…even that being in God’s will doesn’t mean that everything will be perfect…and that sickness is not part of God’s perfect plan, but that He can use it to bring about His glory…

Not really “four-year-old friendly”…so, I opted for an answer that went something like this:

“So Madi, does Mommy and Daddy give you everything you ask for? (solomn shaking of the head) If you asked Mommy and Daddy for, say, 10,000 toys, we wouldn’t give it to you, right? (giggles) Well, it’s the same way with God. He loves us and knows what is best for us, and that means sometimes He answers our prayers differently than what we are expecting.” (nervous pause on my part)

“Oh…okay…can I have more milk?”

She moved on, thankfully, but it reminded me that
while I sometimes can get hung up with all of the theological reasons for why or why not my prayers are answered…there is a reason for why we are supposed to have “faith like a child”. God knows what He is doing, even when it doesn’t seem to fit “my” agenda…

Thanks for the reminder, Madi….

— Post From My iPhone