A Good Father

"Youh the meanest daddy I ev-uh saw. He's a meany head!"' I heard Aubrey say from her room, even after I closed her door.

 

I had warned her to be quiet after she continued to fuss about wanting water after I told her "no" because she disobeyed me and got out of bed while I was tucking Elijah into bed. It's become her MO to get up a few times after being tucked in. Usually it is an afterthought of needing to potty, get a drink of water, get a tissue, to "tell us something", or all of the above. So anyway...

To be honest, her response made me angry. Here I was, a loving father who provided her with a good meal earlier, water to drink, a warm bed to sleep in, a room of her own, toys to play with, and all the love I could pour out upon her, and because I withheld something good from her to teach her a more valuable lesson, she lashed out in anger and questioned my character. And at one point, I went back into her room and basically told her all that. Not sure it changed anything, but it eventually began to sink in for me.

 

How often we see God in our limited perspective and think and say horrible things about our Heavenly Father or question His character because he didn't do things the way we wanted him to. He's provided for us and given us way more than we either need or deserve. And yet the moment He withholds something from us, we question His goodness. Perhaps we don't do it directly with slanderous words towards Heaven, but when we react in anger towards circumstances that are not to our favor, we are doing the same thing. His thoughts and ways are beyond ours, and I need to do as Job and put my hand over my mouth before I say something I shouldn't.

“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds, for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans."

-Isaiah 55:8,9

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!” Then Job answered the Lord: “Indeed, I am completely unworthy – how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself."

-Job 40:2-4