Shyanne is currently in a stage where she really enjoys her shoes. (I know, I know: "She's a girl. She's supposed to like shoes." Whatever. I'm a girl and I hate shoes. But that's not the point. Moving on...) Her favorite thing about her shoes is putting them on. She sits in the floor and tries her very hardest to put her tennis shoes on by herself. Now, she's very smart for a 15-month-old, but even a very smart 15-month-old can't put her tennis shoes on by herself. She comes very close sometimes, but she can't quite get it. Yesterday, she had been trying for over five minutes to put her shoes on, so I offered to help her. I held out my hand for her to give me the shoe, but she turned away and kept trying. Eventually, she got mad, quit trying, stood up and threw the shoe.
...it made me think of us. "Us" being the children of God. How often do we suffer from the "I can do it myself!" syndrome? How often are we so set on putting our shoes on ourselves that we turn away from the extended hand of the Father? We are so determined to do our job, our family, our life and even our ministry on our own that we won't let Him help us. We forget the words of Jesus when He said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) Instead, we try for so long on our own power that we get mad, quit trying and throw our shoe (or our family, our life or our ministry) away in frustration. If we would simply have handed it over to Him, He would have slipped it on with ease and tied it in a double knot.
Father, help us to not turn away from Your outstretched hand. Teach us to give You control in every aspect of our lives. Remind us that without You, we can do nothing, but with You, all things are possible. Help us to surrender, and when we do, unleash Your power in our lives. Thank You for continuing to stretch out Your hand to us even when we don't deserve it. You are an awesome God!
2 comments:
Great to see you posting again! ;o) And wonderful analogy! Can't tell you how many time's I've thrown a shoe! (But I'm not a horse!) LOL!
Someone once taught me how I am cheating others out of giving in their gifts if I continue to try to do everything on my own. The same as turning away from the Father. How many times have I said NO to someone offering help becuase of Pride, but really, it was an answered prayer from God.
I leared some valuable lessons the hard way and have learned to recognize when God is sending me a gift.
And not only that, it's when I try to rely on myself, without prayer, without wise counsel, without anything but my own selfish power....is when I screw up!
This also makes me think about our house. I've had such a good week because I gave up. Not on God, but on trying to control it myself. It will sell when it sells. No need for me to stop enjoying life because I'm not moving right now. I need to be livin and lovin life instead of wanting and needing.
Thanks girl! Love you!
Hi Lindy!!
That is a good point. Good lesson. -pats Shyanne- You should be a teacher and she can be your helper. ;)
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