God’s Love for You

Two Crackers

Megan Breedlove September 1, 2008 0Comment

This summer, we attended our second annual family reunion at a campground in East Texas. The country was beautiful, with tall pine trees and lush green foliage. (“We’re in a jungle!” Kenny shouted, awed, as we passed between rows of huge, leafy trees whose branches almost met overhead.) Walking through the campground, one of the first things I noticed was the sunny, quiet calm, where the only sounds I heard were nature’s sounds. My spirit eagerly drank in the peace.

It was wonderful to be with family. We all live far enough apart that we don’t see each other as often as we’d like. So we met at the campground for a Friday-Saturday reunion, to spend time enjoying each other and catching up on news.

Being as this was a southern family, we also enjoyed a lot of good, home cooking. You just can’t have a southern family reunion without massive amounts of homemade, special-recipe, delicious food. Since there were several children present, there were also copious snacks.

At one point, my two-year-old daughter, Lindsey, wanted a snack. “Cookies!” she requested, pointing to the Ritz crackers.

“Those are crackers, sweetheart,” I said. I picked up the box of crackers and a Styrofoam bowl from the counter, preparing to pour several of the crackers into it.

“Two crackers!” Lindsey said, holding up her hands and making gripping motions.

“I’ll get you some crackers,” I assured her.

“I want two crackers!” She extended her arms straight up, her hands ready.

“I’ll get you some,” I repeated, pouring several crackers into the bowl. As I did, I thought to myself, It’s a good thing I didn’t give her only what she asked for, or she wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much.

I bet God feels the same way when He thinks about our requests.

In His Word, He not only invites us, but commands us to come boldly to His throne of grace with our requests. (Hebrews 4:16) Elsewhere, He tells us to test Him and see if He will not pour out His storehouses of blessings upon us. (Malachi 3:10) We are also told to come to God on all occasions with all kinds of requests. (Ephesians 6:18) Perhaps most bluntly of all, we are admonished that we “have not, because [we] ask not.” (James 4:2)

Let me be clear: these verses are not necessarily talking about material blessings. Yes, it is right to ask God for material things we need. After all, He has promised to provide for us. But these verses refer primarily to spiritual blessings.

There is no way to obligate God to provide us with a new car or new clothes—indeed, with anything—merely by asking “correctly”. He has, however, provided us with “every spiritual blessing.” (Ephesians 1:3)

Dear mommy friend, are you asking God for two crackers? Or are you asking for a bowlful?

Are your prayers limited to requests such as, “Please be with me,” or “Please bless so-and-so,” or “Please make my kids behave”? Or do they include larger petitions like, “Jesus, You came so that I could have abundant life. (John 10:10) Right now, in the midst of diapers and housework, tantrums and carpools, life doesn’t feel too abundant. I ask You to show me what the truth of Your Word looks like in my circumstances, so that I can experience abundant life and others will be drawn to you”?

Fortunately for Lindsey, I desired to give her far more than she asked for.

Fortunately for us, God desires to give us far more than we ask for. In fact, He desires to give us “abundantly more than all we ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20)

So ask Him for your deepest needs (which usually aren’t material things at all). Ask Him boldly.

And if you are asking for His glory—which is key—you can expect to receive.

Not just two crackers, but a bowlful.

Ephesians 3:20-21—Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Acceptance

Megan Breedlove June 16, 2008 0Comment

My kids love to go to the play area at the local mall. It’s an area on the bottom level in the middle of the mall that has comfortable benches (for the parents) surrounding an area with large, stationary plastic toys for kids to climb on, fall off of, etc. The kids love running around with other kids and having fun. We have this routine where we go to the mall, play on the play area for awhile, then pay too much for cookies as we leave.

A couple years ago, when she was about two and a half, I took Ellie, the oldest, to the play area. Ellie is a very sociable girl, and she loves not only to play, but to play with someone. She would go up to girls that looked about her age and ask them if they wanted to play with her. Often, though, kids around her age didn’t have the language skills she did, and they didn’t know how to respond to her. They would just look at her and say nothing, or they would turn away. Other times, Ellie would ask kids about her height to play with her, but because she is tall, kids her height were often older, and they sometimes didn’t want to play with a younger kid.

Of course, there were plenty of times when Ellie successfully matched herself up with a playmate, but on this particular day, she wasn’t having much luck.

Sitting on the benches along the perimeter of the play area, I watched her approach child after child, sweetly and politely asking them if they wanted to play with her.

That day, no one did.

As I sat there, I found my emotions becoming involved. As Ellie approached a child, I would anxiously await the child’s response to her. When the response was negative (either by saying no, or by saying nothing), I became more anxious for the next child to respond positively. This happened several times in a row, and gradually, I noticed other emotions: desperation, hurt, and anger. “Play with my child!” I wanted to shout. “My sweet, precious girl is asking you to play, and you should be glad to!” I also found myself wanting to beg, “Please be kind to her and play with her. Don’t reject her. Don’t hurt her feelings.”

You know what it feels like to want acceptance for your child. You know what it feels like to send your child out into the big scary world of the play area, or preschool, or a birthday party, and hope with everything in your mother-heart that the other kids love your child even a fraction of as much as you do.

I bet God knows how we feel.

Think about it: God has to send his children (us) out into a world full of other people, where he knows we will sometimes find acceptance, but sometimes get hurt and rejected. As I sat there at the mall, I thought to myself, I wonder if God sometimes wants to say the same things I wanted to say: “Love My child! Accept her! She is special and precious to me, and I want you to see that and treat her that way.”

You know what? I know he does, because that’s exactly what he says to us in the Bible. The Bible clearly teaches that each human being is a marvelous creation of God, made in his image. And how many times does God, especially in the person of his son, Jesus, tell us to love each other?

Why do you think he says that so many times? Why does he place so much emphasis on the way we treat each other?

Because he wants us to be like him in the way we love—fully and completely, without respect for persons or situation.

And because he wants the same acceptance and love for us that we want for our children.

Dear mommy friend, do you love others the same way you want others to love your child? If other kids treated your child the way you treat other people, would that be okay with you? Would that kind of treatment be what you want for your child?

Spend some time thinking about that this week. In your interactions with others, ask yourself if the way you are treating them is the way you would want someone to treat your child.

Do you extend to others’ children the same kind of love and acceptance that you want for your child?

Psalm 139:14—I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works.

1 John 4:7—Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

John 13:35—By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.