Lego and gratitude…or not…
I spoke to someone today who was looking for another job. God had given him this job a few years ago, a great job, he liked it, but now he wanted something else that paid even better. He had prayed about that, but he couldn’t find that new job. He was actually disappointed in God that he hadn’t gotten it yet. He asked us to pray for it, to God, for him.
I first talked about Lego with him:
Suppose you are a child and it is your birthday. You have seen a nice box of Lego and would like to have it for your birthday.
Sounds good, right?
But somehow you get something else for your birthday….
You didn’t get a box of Lego, but a bicycle…
You’d say… you’re super happy with that, right? (photo = me with my new bike, and I was really happy with it!!)
But suppose… you start stomping on the floor like an elephant. No, no, no, I don’t want that bike, I want Lego! Stomp, stomp, stomp…
What would your Father think of that? You had asked him for Lego, but your Father knew that Lego is indeed beautiful, but that you also needed a new bicycle to move forward. Your father made a good, loving choice that is really the best for you and gave you a bicycle. But no, you keep saying: are you deaf or something? I want Lego! And you keep asking for that box of Lego, and asking, and asking…. And just to be clear: What did you actually do for it, besides growing one day older?
What would The Father think? He looked beyond a box of Lego, he saw a bigger picture and decided to give you a bicycle.
Yes, it may well be that in all your childishness you do not understand why the father did it that way, but do you trust your Father who knows what you need, who loves you? Or do you keep asking for Lego…?
Look for the differences:
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
Or:
And God will bless me abundantly, always, having all that I want, and i will be good.
2 MeMe: 9:9
Do you see the difference? It’s up to Him, not up to us, He is able, but that does not mean He must(!) do it, do we need it, or do we want it? And last but not least: “every good work”, guess for whom that work must be? For us, or for Him? Yep.
God has a plan, even if sometimes we don’t understand it. He truly knows what is best for His plan. You are a small, tiny link in His plan, and that sometimes means that He does not give you Lego, so that something else will be done in His plan. And maybe you don’t even get a bike, and you get nothing at all.
How would you feel if you didn’t get anything at all? Are you also grateful when you get nothing?
He knows why you get something or not, you deserve nothing to begin with, so, if you get anything, that’s grace! And now it comes….
Suppose He doesn’t give you Lego, not even a bicycle. You got nothing.
Because He wanted to spend His money/time to feed a homeless person….
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10
There is nothing wrong with asking your Father for something…but how and why we ask it, that does matter. His will, not yours. He has the plan and sees it, we often don’t. Trust His plan and always be grateful, even if you don’t get a bike, no Legos and maybe even no soup….
