Psalm 84:11-12 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!”
I’ve got two little kids (a 2 and 3 year old). The youngest, AV, oftentimes hates to sit in the car seat. He’d scream and cry and arch his back and simply refuse to sit in it. He doesn’t realize that we can go do a lot of things outside if he’d yield and obey to what I want. Instead, his disobedience and strong-will keeps us from going out and having fun. Sarena hated to sit in the car seat too when she was younger. But, she’s learned that by sitting there, she can get to go to different places and not be stuck at home.
What I’ve come to experience is what makes a parent happy is for a child to simply trust and obey the parent. When either my daughter or son simply trusts and yields to my judgment and not demand their own will from their limited viewpoint, it makes me happy. And also, in the long run, it’ll make them happy. They might have to put up with sitting in a boring car seat for 5 minutes, but we can then go out and eat pizza. Or if they put up with the boredom for 30 minutes, then we can go to the zoo.
And I see this carried over into my relationship with my heavenly Father. What makes God happy is for me to simply trust and yield to Him. I might be uncomfortable for a season, but at the end, God knows what is best for me. What blocks God from demonstrating His love and joy is my hard-heartedness and my pride. Just like what blocks our family from going out and having fun is that AV is stiff-backed into getting into the car.
A child does not know more than a father. And a father always has the best intentions for the child, though the child might not see it that way.
We do not know more than our heavenly Father. And God wants to pour out His love to us and show His amazing power and bring us to places we can’t imagine. All we have to do is be a trusting child in the arms of a loving Father.
Let’s now close by opening our hymnals to “Trust and Obey”…
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy with Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy with Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy with Jesus, but to trust and obey.
But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy with Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy with Jesus, but to trust and obey.