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This week’s topic: God’s Guidance
As the mother of a very intelligent 3 year old and an infant, I can attest that there is a different behavioral tolerance for both ages. My highly verbal toddler can communicate her needs, while my infant obviously cannot. Therefore, my expectations of each of them vary based on their development. Here’s where I am going with this; as beloved children of our Heavenly Father who has equipped us with His word, He expects us to “grow up” and develop in our Christian walk.
One of the behavioral displays I have grown less tolerant of in my toddler is WHINING! It’s incredibly … annoying. Yes, I said it! No one likes whining, especially when someone is able to communicate! As I said, my toddler is highly verbal and she can identify and request almost everything within her daily scope. But there are times when she grows impatient. She makes a request, and if I do not respond immediately, she continues to ask every 6 seconds until she physically has in-hand whatever she requested. The whining ensues. Even though I may be in the process of fulfilling her request, all she is focused on is that she can’t yet see it.
For example, she may want to watch Dora the Explorer in our SUV. Some of you parents already feel my pain on that one! Well before I can cue the movie, I have to secure her and her baby brother in their car seats, load in the diaper bag and other items, get myself in the truck, secure my own seatbelt, start the engine, THEN power on the entertainment system to play the movie. All the while, I am mindful of her request and IN MOTION to fulfill her request! Well, many times we are the same way with God. We make a request that doesn’t immediately manifest, and then we start WHINING! Even though His Word says “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we KNOW that He hears us, whatever we ask, we KNOW (not think or believe) that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him”, we doubt Him because we don’t yet see our request fulfilled. His holy ears must burn in irritation at our lack of faith!! While He is more tolerant of a “baby Christian” who is new to the things of God and just learning His Word, His expectations are much higher for those of us who have learned of Him and walked with Him for some time. He expects more of us. He expects us to know that He makes good on His Word and is IN MOTION to fulfill our requests! He expects us to walk by faith, and not by sight.
Hebrews 5:11-14 reads, “…By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature…”
article courtesy of TheStreamingFaith.com
Daily Devotional” “Stop Whining” was originally published on praisecleveland.com
