For My Own Good

      Sometimes we just don't know what's good for us, we know what we want, but that's not necessarily what we need. I started thinking about this as I am currently listening to the dear little angels I care for crying in their cribs. They are very tired and need naps, but that's not what they want, even though that's what is actually best for them. I know as a caregiver that sometimes I need to employ some 'tough love' with these guys so their needs are met before their wants. I am a long term thinker, I rarely ever look at a situation only as it appears in the present, which is a very helpful tool when you work with children, but God is beyond that, He doesn't just make a logical guess as to what's best like I do, He knows with certainty what's best for us.
      Just like a child, we sometimes let our wants get in the way of our needs. And just like a child we get mad about it when we ask for something that we don't receive. I'm very guilty of this, but I'm trying to mature in the spirit and understand that if God is withholding something it is out of love and knowing what's best for me. I'm learning that not receiving a want is just as much of a blessing as receiving it, because both acts come from the same place, they are both acts of love for our benefit. It can be really hard to accept this though, to want something badly but not receive it. In those moments when I want to rant and rave, and throw my little temper tantrum because I'm not getting my way I have found that reminding myself of Romans 8:28 helps to calm my soul and better accept things. If I truly believe the Bible as truth I have to accept this verse, I have to accept that even when I'm not getting my way it's for my own good.
      The word 'no' has been labeled as a negative word by today's popular psychology, but as I grow in my relationship with the Father I am learning to let go of that perception of the word. 'No' is not a bad word, but a way of protecting someone from a thing or from a behavior or a relationship that is potentially bad for them. For my own good, I have decided to start celebrating when the Lord tells me 'no' or 'not yet,' because these aren't bad things!!! It is from His love for us and His infinite knowledge that the Father either grants, withholds, or re-directs it is not a punishment or cruelness but a blessing in disguise!

Romans 8:28

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose

 

Psalm 62:8

8 Trust in him at all times, you people;

pour out your hearts to him,

for God is our refuge.