Daniel 9:9
Lord God, you are merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against you
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I
sat at the table today with our nephew, Nathan, trying to coax him to
eat. “Those are strawberries...Yum! Yum!” He would look away and hide
his face. “Mmmmmm...chocolate milk! It’s goooooooooooood!” He would
push away the sippy cup. I know Nathan is moody at times...and just shy
of his 2nd birthday, he is still figuring us out! So I pretended not
to notice him. I quietly ate my lunch...turned on a television
show...even got my laptop and started to check e-mail. Of course, I was
watching him intently...and at times I felt him watching ME! If he
noticed that I noticed him, he would
retreat...put his goldfish and strawberries back in the bowl, and hide
his face. It was a game...and I caught on pretty fast!
Over the
course of about 30 minutes, Nathan discovered that the food I had given
him was really tasty...and it all disappeared into his tummy. No matter
how many times I told him how delicious it was...it had to be HIS
idea. So I quickly decided to be gracious and merciful and ignore
him...to play HIS game and forgive his stubbornness.
This is not
just the game of a toddler. We do it all the time with God. He shows
us what to do...and what not to do...and we try to do things our way.
We essentially say, “Don’t look at me right now!” and pretend that if
God does not acknowledge what we are doing (or not doing), it doesn’t
count. Then when things fall apart, where do we run? You’ve got
it...we head straight for God - and want Him to forgive us and restore
us. And usually He does just that!
If you read the next few
verses of Daniel 9, you will see, however, that God has His limits!
While He will never turn His back on us completely, God may “hang us out
to dry” a little. There may come a day when He says, “That’s it...I’ve
been patient with you long enough. I told you “not to touch the hot
stove” and you kept inching closer and closer, so you will just have to
get burned a little to learn your lesson!” Or we ask and ask for things
that God doesn’t seem to deliver, and we wonder why He is silent...only
to realize that we have failed to do something He asked of us – or we
have disobeyed Him repeatedly in some area. God is loving,
compassionate, merciful and gracious...but He is also just and fair.
So
for today, I have allowed Nathan the leeway to eat at his pace and to
decide whether he was hungry. When he is older, I may have to INSIST
that he eat his veggies or drink his milk. But I will always love him,
just the same. And God loves us. He wants to snuggle us in His arms
like we would a 2-year-old who is learning the ropes. But He also wants
us to grow up and mature in our faith and our discipleship.
How
patient has God been with you lately? Are there areas where He has been
more than lenient? Are there other situations where you are probably
testing the limits of His mercy? Isn’t it time you grew up in your
faith and started listening to God a little more closely? Will God have
to lose His patience with you before you truly “get it”?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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