Recently, my son had texted about wanting to leave school early to go to work. Texting is not a great way to have a conversation. We went back and forth. He wasn’t getting the result he desired. He continued to push back against my response. I was getting irritated. He then made the comment “be smart,” I was was now irate.
I began having a great argument with him in my head. I was putting him in his place. I was winning when God twisted it for me. I was sitting in a meeting and began to write this on the agenda:
God do you get as irritated and frustrated when I badger you? I know I can push and push You for what I want. I know how to through a good tantrum when things are hard. I can whine with the best of them. Do you get irritated with me? I know that “no” is for my own good. I admit I don’t always see the refining you are doing. I always see how boundaries are for my benefit. Redirecting my priorities can give me focus when I need it. God, do I irritate you?
Then I read this scripture.
3-6 That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus! (Romans 15:3-5 MSG)
“May our dependable steady and warmly personal God…” This phrase tells me the answer. God doesn’t tire of me. God doesn’t get irritated with my badgering. He knows why I care deeply about a circumstance and He knows the best way through it. He continues to guide me through it even when I act like a two year old. Thank you God for loving me when I act like a two year old.
How do you act when you get irritated? How do you think God responds to you when you badger Him? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.
I don’t think of myself as a badgerer, but I am a tantrum thrower. When I am furious or grief-stricken, and lost in questions of “why?” And “what now?” I think of God wrapping me up in a hug as I way too slowly calm down. It can be hard to believe that God has been working on me all this time and I am still so awful, but I do believe and I do hope that through Jesus I will continue to grow. And, knowing what a mess I am makes it easier to humbly love all the people in my life who are struggling with their own messes.
I like the way you frame the situation from a parenting perspective!
Thanks. It’s beautiful how God keeps working on us.