Did You Ask First?
Calvin walks out of the kitchen and passes me with his mouth full and his cheeks fully chipmunked. I stop him and ask him what he has in his mouth.
"Uh gunboo," he says. I see the pink orb in his mouth and, knowing there is a jar of them in the kitchen, I put two and two together to realize he is saying a gumball. At this point I slip fully into parent mode and say the words that every parent has said at least once (even though they may have sworn when they were younger that they would never say things like their parents).
"Did you ask first," I say.
He smiles and giggles and says, "Oops, I forgot." I smile and giggle because I can't stay mad at the kid, and we laugh together as he skips off to play Wii.
Did you ask first? It's a small question with big implications for us. In the Bible there are numerous examples of people who reacted and responded to a situation without asking God what they should do first, and the results were disastrous. In 1 Samuel 21 and 22, David was on the run from King Saul who was trying to kill him. Saul thought that David was trying to take his thrown and was immensely jealous of David's popularity with the people. David, who had always been so faithful to God, panicked and ran. He went to the priest, Ahimelech, to ask for his help, but lied about what he was doing. He told Ahimelech that he was on a mission that Saul had sent him on and asked for food and weaponry. When Saul found out that the Ahimelech had helped David, he sent his men to slaughter him and all the other priests in that town, 85 in all. He then ordered his men to kill all of their families as well, wives and children. Hundreds of people died that day because of what David did.
David's mistake was in not seeking God's help and guidance first, and it led to a series of bad judgments that cost many lives. If he had paused, taken a breath and asked God what he should do, God would have led him to a totally different course that would have spared many people a great deal of pain. A good friend of mine just told me that God doesn't push, he leads. Those times when we feel pressure to quickly respond to our circumstances, when we feel backed into a corner, those are the very times that we need to ask God for his help the most. Those are the times when we need to ask what he wants us to do instead of responding with our first instinctive reaction (which are usually the most selfish and damaging). No matter what we face, we must always ask God how he wants us to respond first. The Bible assures us that when we ask he will answer.
"Uh gunboo," he says. I see the pink orb in his mouth and, knowing there is a jar of them in the kitchen, I put two and two together to realize he is saying a gumball. At this point I slip fully into parent mode and say the words that every parent has said at least once (even though they may have sworn when they were younger that they would never say things like their parents).
"Did you ask first," I say.
He smiles and giggles and says, "Oops, I forgot." I smile and giggle because I can't stay mad at the kid, and we laugh together as he skips off to play Wii.
Did you ask first? It's a small question with big implications for us. In the Bible there are numerous examples of people who reacted and responded to a situation without asking God what they should do first, and the results were disastrous. In 1 Samuel 21 and 22, David was on the run from King Saul who was trying to kill him. Saul thought that David was trying to take his thrown and was immensely jealous of David's popularity with the people. David, who had always been so faithful to God, panicked and ran. He went to the priest, Ahimelech, to ask for his help, but lied about what he was doing. He told Ahimelech that he was on a mission that Saul had sent him on and asked for food and weaponry. When Saul found out that the Ahimelech had helped David, he sent his men to slaughter him and all the other priests in that town, 85 in all. He then ordered his men to kill all of their families as well, wives and children. Hundreds of people died that day because of what David did.
David's mistake was in not seeking God's help and guidance first, and it led to a series of bad judgments that cost many lives. If he had paused, taken a breath and asked God what he should do, God would have led him to a totally different course that would have spared many people a great deal of pain. A good friend of mine just told me that God doesn't push, he leads. Those times when we feel pressure to quickly respond to our circumstances, when we feel backed into a corner, those are the very times that we need to ask God for his help the most. Those are the times when we need to ask what he wants us to do instead of responding with our first instinctive reaction (which are usually the most selfish and damaging). No matter what we face, we must always ask God how he wants us to respond first. The Bible assures us that when we ask he will answer.
posted by Chris at
12:04 AM
1 Comments:
Great visual of Calvie. :-)
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