“I’m coming!”  Devotional #15

 

It really irks me when my kids make me wait!  They love to say, “I’m coming,” but yet they’re not moving.  They’re still doing what they were doing before I called them and they don’t move until they hear the “Tough Mama.”  She’s the one that’s stern and won’t take “no” for an answer.  I really hate having to be stern but sometimes that’s what it takes for my kids to listen to me.  

My kids do not like the “Tough Mama.”  They say that I’m too strict.  My daughter calls me “meanie.”  It’s her made up word.  Mind you I’m not yelling, most of the time, but I do raise my voice a bit more than my usual tone and it’s when they hear this tone that they know I’m being serious.  When that “meanie” word comes out from my daughter’s mouth or when my sons tell me with their puppy eyes, “Mama I said I’m coming, don’t get mad,” I usually say the same thing which is something like this, “had you come when you said you would then I wouldn’t have had to act like this with you.”

I could see if it’s that they’re in the middle of something like schoolwork, cleaning their room (yeah right!), using the restroom, things like that, but its not any of these things they make me wait for which is why it bothers me!  They make me wait for things like being in the middle of a television program that they’ve watched over a hundred times already.  Sometimes it’s that they don’t want to shut down their video game at that spot because it won’t save.  Other times it’s that they’re listening to a song and they want to wait until it’s over before they move, really? 

Unfortunately I’ve done this to God myself.  I’ve made Him wait when He’s calling me to do something.  How about you?  Like my kids, its not that I don’t want to move and do what He’s calling me to do, it’s just that I don’t want to do it at that moment.  Oh boy!  Not good!  I can make a thousand excuses but I won’t because this is God I’m talking about.  How dare I make Him wait. 

The kids not listening to me is disobedience.  My not moving when God has told me to is also disobedience.  I know that what really bothers me with my kids disobedience is that I feel a bit unloved, less important, not cherished or appreciated.  If I feel this way how does God feel when I disobey Him?  In John 15:10 Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”  John 14:15 Jesus said, “‘If you love me, you will obey what I command.’”  John 14:21 Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”  John 14:23 Jesus said, “…If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.  These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” 

 I know my children love me, not just because they say it but because they demonstrate it.  Our demonstration of love to Jesus is through our obedience to Him.  Jesus teaches us things that are profound when we least expect it.  It can be a valuable lesson in the middle of a mundane day or in my case in the middle of waiting for my child to come to me after saying, “I’m coming.”  I have been learning to live obediently because I want my Lord to know that I love Him.  How about you my dear friend?  Do you live an obedient life and because of that obedience your love for the Lord is demonstrated?  

 

Thank you my dear friend for taking the time to visit my blog.  I appreciate your time in reading this devotional.  I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below about this devotional or any of the others that I have written so far.  I appreciate you and am constantly praying for you.   Also, would you be so kind as to pass this blog on to your friends and family? 

 

*If you would like to read this same devotional in Spanish or know of someone that would please visit my Spanish blog at www.ministerioreflejandolaverdad.blogspot.com