As a caregiver for children my whole perspective of how God works in our lives has changed. Learning to see and understand Him as a parent rather than a divine deity has helped me to grow in my relationship with Him, because I can now understand why things happen a certain way sometimes, or certain things continue even after I have prayed about them. It took a while to get to this point and I had to change a lot of actions and reactions to situations but as I learn to see God as my Father I am learning to trust Him more. It was difficult at first not to see Him as some far away deity looking down on us without much of the love for us that I now know He has, but when I thought about how much I love the kids I take care of, and the ones I have cared for in the past, and that God's love is more than that, I started to understand why prayers aren't always answered, or at least in the way we wanted.
If you have kids or have cared for them you know it's a balance between giving them what they want, what they need, and teaching them responsibility, respect, and gratitude. God wants us to be happy because He loves us, He wants to give us the desires of our heart, (see Psalm 37:4,) and honestly when you think of your child or children you care for, you know it's true because its what you want for them. But as a responsible parent/caregiver you know you can't just hand them everything they want because it will spoil them and cause them to be greedy, selfish, and ungrateful. So what do you do?
You find the balance, you give them something's just because you love them, you provide for all their needs, but you also withhold certain things because you know in the long run its not good for them. Or for other things you make them earn it, and work for it so they will understand its value. It's funny but I didn't realize it was the same with God until I had a conversation with a 6 year old and had to explain why he couldn't have a cookie but his brother could. It hurt me to see him so upset, because I wanted him to be happy, but I knew if I rewarded his bad behavior with a treat I would be teaching him that he could misbehave and still get what he wants, it was then that I realized my prayers weren't being ignored by God, it was simply that I was a misbehaving child demanding my own way without doing anything to deserve it.
Since then I have learned to look at things differently when they aren't going my way. I try to understand from a parent's/caregiver's perspective what the reason might be that things are a certain way, and now more often than not I find the fault to be my own, and no longer blame God. I trust now that my Father is doing what is best for me, because that's what I try to do for the children in my charge. I understand now that God is not just pulling strings as a puppet master that controls the universe, but He is patiently loving us, and teaching us as a Father. Be blessed.
Proverbs 6:23
For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life
Proverbs 13:24
Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
Hebrews 5:7-9
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
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