"Let Daddy Help You"

Scripture:

Matthew 7:7 (NIV) 

7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Question:

My children often cause me to see how I am acting when approaching God...and maybe how God sees me sometime.

Holden, who is 2, hasn't grasped the concept of "Let Daddy help you". He thinks I am trying to take something away from him. Like opening a cheese stick or something similar. 

 As I reach down to try to open it for him, he says,"I can do it, I can do it," and he will scream and pitch a fit, until you let him try to do it on his own.  Inevitably, he follows up with, "Daddy help?"

Aren't we just like that with God?

Don't we want to do things on our own?

Answer:

A great example of growth (and understanding) in this area, is mirrored in one of Holden's favorite past times...snacking on "squeezy fruits".  (In our household, we refer to those squeezable, apple sauce based fruit pouches as "squeezy fruits").

Since before he could talk, Holden has been diggin' the sqeezy fruit.  When he needs a fix, he encourages me to meet him at the refrigerator, so that I can open the refrigerator door for him.  Once the door is opened, he knows exactly which  crisper to go to get what he needs.

He also knows how to close the crisper door (unless it has been pulled a little too far (requiring a wiggle start) or is too full (heavy)). Then, he asks me to help him close the drawer.

As soon as he closes the refrigerator door he says,"Daddy, open squeezy fruit".

Then I open it, and he says. "Thank you," and goes on about his way.

Imagine how much more fulfilled our lives would become, if we could learn to approach our Heavenly Father this way.  Not having to worry about the more difficult details of our provision, would certainly free us up to serve others. 

Picture this:

"Lord, I would like to receive extra income that would free me up to write more for you. However, I'm going to need your help getting the first step of this blessing (door opened) in place."

So, God opens a door for us to receive more income.

Recognizing an opportunity and relying on our own experience, we gladly do our part to go after and receive the income (we open the crisper drawer, and grab the squeezy fruit).

Then, we hand the income back to God (to be opened) (Glory! I love it when God shows me something on the fly- "handing it back to God" is good) . 

 Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

So, we hand the income back to God. Then,we ask God to open the income to make it available to us, as something we can use.

God gladly opens it. (He's not taking it back after giving it to you...relax) and then hands it back to us.

We grab the income and say thank you, and then close the door. Then we are on our way, and both God and us are happy.

Occasionally, when Holden has been playing for several hours without a juice drink...and I give him a juice to drink, he takes one sip and sets it aside as he goes back to playing. The juice will usually go unnoticed after that.  

I've learned to suggest to Holden that he meet me at the fridge for a squeezy fruit, when I know he needs it (it's sort of like juice).  And, I'm certain he'll finish that.

Thanks be to God that He knows our every need, even before we do. He's watching us while we go about our business.

Whew! Eye opening.

And, I'm almost sure it is just that simple.  

Going Forward:

Involve the Lord; utilize His help in your serving Him, doing what you can, but ask for His help with the hard stuff. 

Understand and know (TRUST) that God will be there to open doors and blessings (squeezy fruits) when you need Him.

And don't forget to thank Him.

Thanks be to God for my children, and to my Heavenly Father who reminds us that His love for us is very similar (in many ways) to our love for our children.