Devotional Series June 21, 2019

She stood there and stood there. Her eyes drooping and tired. She even at one point drifted off for a half a second and jerked back to attention. My little almost 7 year old has a very strong will. One that we come up against daily around here. And though I make it sound like a bad thing; it’s quite the opposite. For when she becomes 17 and the drugs are being passed around, I can easily see this girl with her arms folded stating something like, “I’m not doing that nasty stuff and you can’t make me.”

But tonight was a different story as we also are faced with the task of bending her will without breaking it. (Something I pray for the Lord’s wisdom on daily.) Tonight she refused to rinse her mouth with fluoride. She was scared. And while the jury may be out on it’s uses and benefits, the point was and is that she needed to do what her parents told her to do. No coercing could get her to change her mind. So I made her sit in a chair until she got sleepy. Then I asked her to stand. She refused for 40 mins to do the simple task we were asking of her. This stand-off, if you will, got me thinking of us and God’s will.

How many times do we stand outside of God’s will with our arms folded, our feet hurting and our bodies tired? How many times do we think our will makes more sense? How many times have we stood there knowing we are defying His calling, ignoring His voice because we simply don’t want to do what we’re told? Or maybe it’s fear that keeps us from doing what He’s asking of us. Aren’t we essentially being like little children testing our maker?

During our calm reasoning with our child, we would every so often gently ask her, “Are you ready to go in there and do that?” She finally realized that no matter what she said or how many times she begged, the answer was the same…”Are you ready?” And finally she said yes. Her and I went in the bathroom and she swirled, swished and spit. She looked up at me and smiled. All of her agony was over…for the night. We will see about tomorrow.

Is God asking you, “are you ready?” about something? Have you been at a stand-off with Him? Remember, He is our Father and knows what’s best for us…even when we think we have all the answers.