To Live is Christ — trusting my Father

My mother and father were told that I would not live to age sixteen. I cannot imagine what that was like for them, but am not surprised that they gave me pretty much whatever I asked for. Sometimes, my dad even surprised me. One Christmas he handmade a gift that was perfect, yet totally unexpected.

Later, after I became a Christian, I realized that most people form their idea of God from their parents. On one hand, I discovered God is much like my dear human father. This verse says so:

If you then, being 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! (Matthew 7:11)

On the other hand, I soon discovered that God is also not like my dad because God defines “good” no matter what I think good means. He will not give me everything I want, but He does give me what is good, on His terms.

All this flooded back reading two sentences from today’s devotional thoughts. The first one was, “What bad things have you received from God as an answer to prayer.” The second one said, “I pray for the confidence to pray for what I need without fear of my greed.”

I’ve prayed and received answers that at first seemed bad. For instance, Christians joke that we should never pray for patience because we will get trials. It isn’t a joke, but true. Trials develop patience and at first trials seem like a bad answer to a request for something good.

I’ve also prayed greedy prayers, asking for things that seemed good at the time, but were totally selfish. God doesn’t pay any attention to those requests. James wrote, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)

God knows better than to treat His children like a doting dad. Although our time on earth is short, He uses every bit of it to teach me and shape me. His purpose is that I become like Jesus. Certainly Jesus was loved by the Father, but not indulged. God met every need, but Jesus was never given a big house, or a nice car, or even a horse to ride. He didn’t care about those things anyway. He knew why He was here and didn’t waste His time or energy in pursuit of things that do not have eternal value. His word on this:

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:31–33)

That prayer about greed startled me, and in processing it, I realize that I don’t need to fear my greed because God isn’t into indulging His children. He gives me what I need, only the good things that fit His perfect will for me.

Sometimes He gives me surprises along the way though, blessings that I didn’t ask for or even know that I needed. Because of this, I am filled with fond thoughts of Him as my loving Father and am thankful for all those times my dear dad gave me a glimpse of what He is like.