Lesson for the Week

The Hard Way

I’m sitting here right now so frustrated, and I don’t know what to do. Parents, you know what I’m talking about. We do everything we can to try to protect our children. We make sure they get enough of the right kinds of foods, we make sure they get enough sleep, we make sure they take their medicine when they get sick… we watch them on the playground, making sure they don’t swing too high, or pick up a bug and eat it (especially a bee)… we watch them when they’re swimming, making sure they don’t stay under the water too long, or run around the pool knowing they could slip and fall. Unfortunately, what we all have to realize is that some lessons, no matter how hard they are, children have to learn on their own. My six year old daughter, though extremely bright, is also extremely stubborn. A few days ago, Zoe decided that she didn’t want to take her ADD medicine anymore. The first day she pulled this stunt, I was able to convince her that taking it was the best thing to do. That afternoon, her father called to let me know that his wife was sick, so I had to make the decision not to send her to spend the weekend with him. Well, that was all it took. From that point on “Zoe the Mule” reared her ugly head. I begged her, sat down and tried to get down to the “real problem”, spoke to her openly about the consequences of her actions, bribed her, and took things away; all the while praying that God would help me figure out what to do. Well, though I’m feeling a little shaky about this, my next step is to let go and let Zoe discover for herself just how difficult first grade may be for her without those meds. As I was thinking about all of this, I realized that we as adults can behave just like that stubborn child. God knows what we want in life, but more importantly, He knows what we need and what is best for us. We are the ones who decide that things have to be a certain way for us to be happy. That “thing” we want, whatever it may be, may not be the best thing for us. God knows that; but He will only keep us from hurting ourselves for so long. Eventually He will let the “mule” go, and us face the consequences of our actions alone. That doesn’t mean He won’t be there when we truly need Him; but it does mean that He knows that there are some things that we, like little children, have to learn “the hard way”. How many of you remember your mother saying, “Do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?” Wasn’t that annoying? Well, as adults, most of us have gained wisdom from “the hard way”, but that doesn’t mean we necessarily want to go down those roads again. The Bible tells us that we are going to have tough times in our lives. What we don’t need to do is make things more difficult for ourselves by not following God when He has made our path clear. Just remember Proverbs 3:5-6… “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV) I don’t know about you, but I much prefer a straight path over having to travel “the hard way”.

1 Peter 1:14

1 Corinthians 13:11

Psalm 32:8-9