If you'll just stay on your bottom...

I had one of the most enjoyable evenings I have had in a long time the other night. We (my mother and I) decided to take the neighbor's three youngest children out for some fun. They have seven children; consequently, the younger children do not get a lot of simple things that sometimes an "only child" might get. Well, the night turned out to be so much fun that I have decided to do this type of thing on a more regular basis. I literally was almost doubled over laughing while I was supposed to be driving! Dangerous? Especially if you knew my driving habits under normal conditions. :D Actually, that's just a joke. I am a very cautious, safe driver by nature. I have no desire to take my own life in a car accident!

Anyway, the kids ages are 7, 6, and 4. Wow, at the things kids say!!! My mom and I laughed all night long. It started by going to a very kid-friendly restaurant, which they very much enjoy for the pizza! Then we went to Wal-Mart to buy them all a gun and a cowboy hat. Boy, they were in all their glory. The youngest made an interesting comment on the way out. He said, "I really like you guys." How easily children are pleased! :D

But there was one comment that the 6 year old made on the way to the restaurant in the vehicle that stuck with me. We were discussing the hazards of playing around in the car while driving when he said, "If you'll just stay on your bottom, you won't get hurt!"

Why is it that God chooses to stab your heart with a simple comment by a toddler?

"...out of the mouth of babes..."

If you'll just stay on your bottom... Was that for immature children riding in a vehicle, or for me in this thing called life, Lord? Being still until you have God's "green light" can be extremely difficult. I admit, I have had recent bouts with this very issue: Patience.

Sometimes, as young adults, it's hard to learn to be patient with God's timing. You would, like me, rather things to be moving just a little quicker. My dad always says, "90 percent of God's will is God's timing." If I thought God wanted me to be a missionary, it doesn't mean that I should stop typing this post, run and go pack my bags, and get some plane tickets pronto! Why not? God's timing! It's not that I want any other than God's will, I just want it quicker! Some of you have been there, too. You're sitting in the vehicle of God's will, but you're not getting to the destination quick enough for your patience level. :D Sound familiar?

God's will is not always an easy thing, but it's not because God is playing a mental game of hide and seek with his will for me, it's because my natural man does not receive the things of God, for they are "spiritually discerned." I read in my Bible last night the story of Abram and Sarai, who did not wait on God's timing for a son, and so they improvised on God's will. What a tragedy the word of God records, and we even see today, because of this sin.

Lord, help us not to get impatient with your will for our lives, but to surrender to simply live content where you have us until you tell us otherwise. Who are we, to attempt to take our lives back from your hands after giving you all when you saved us? We don't have the right! We shouldn't act as if we have the choice to act on our own. Truth be known, we're no different than a child in a vehicle, not knowing where we're going, where we should be headed, or what to do next. As the song says, "I can't even walk without you holding my hand." Lord, drive my vehicle! And help me to just "stay on my bottom." :D

Isaiah 40:28-31

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (italics mine)