Children are the best theologians and teachers. They don’t complicate things or water them down and they often get straight to the point on things. While I’m constantly learning new things, I feel like lately God has been using my children as teachers- teaching more about His character and who He is.
Recently, my son and I went to a birthday party at a laser tag place. The building is full of bright lights, noise and of course, video games. I told him ahead of time that I didn’t have any change so we weren’t going to be able to play any games. As we were leaving, he was drawn to the lights and the video games. Again, he asked if I had brought any change and I told him no. He was obviously upset and frustrated. As we were leaving, he was telling me that I should remember to bring money next time and that he really wanted to play the games. The following conversation then happened:
M:”I really wanted to play the games. I’m not happy right now.”
Me: “I’m sorry. It’s not my job to make you happy.”
M: “It is your job- you’re my parent!!”
Me: “I am your parent but it isn’t my job to make you happy. Happiness is a choice.”
I was preaching to myself at that moment! How many times have I told God that very same statement: “It’s your job to make me happy.”? Maybe not those exact words but definitely with that meaning. How many times do we pray for things that we just know will make us happy? A new job, a bigger house, more income, more time, etc. We think that if we have everything that we ask for, we’ll be happy. However, what happens when those prayers don’t get answered? Are we happy? Nope. We’re frustrated, confused and certainly not happy because we didn’t get what we thought we wanted. Key phrase: wanted. Many times, we want things that we may not need.
God will give us exactly what we need to accomplish His will for our lives. (Phillipians 4:19) A lot of times God meets needs that we didn’t even know that we had. He wants good for us- in fact, He wants the best for us. Psalm 84:11 says “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” (emphasis mine) It’s not God’s job to make us happy. He is continually conforming us to be more like Him- it’s definitely a work in progress. However, He’s not going to stop giving us what we need to accomplish that.