An Encouraging Word
YOUR FATHER WANTS GOOD THINGS FOR YOU
Four minutes in, I discovered the truth: small children are terrible at picking strawberries.
It was a couple of years ago, and I was with some friends who have small children, exploring a “U-Pick” strawberry patch on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The air was cool and dry and the sky was clear with a bright sun overhead, streaming down on fields of ripe, red, ready-to-eat strawberries just waiting to be picked.
Then, there they went, a two-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, ready to try their hand at field work and eager to fill their buckets with the juicy delights of (almost) spring.
The older one did great. Her six-year-old eyes quickly distinguished the good fruit from the bad, and her nimble fingers had no trouble separating stem from stalk. The younger one… not so much.
I’m not sure there is a separate category in the two-year-old brain that distinguishes fruit from play-dough, because most of the time it seems like both have a tendency to get a little squished. Not only that, but as I watched in amusement, my little buddy demonstrated his total lack of experience in the fruit picking industry by grabbing pretty much whatever he could get his hands on, regardless of how it looked.
Thank goodness his dad was there.
You see, fathers know the difference between good fruit and bad, and they want good things for their children.
Fathers know how to pick the fruit properly without destroying it, and they want good things for their children.
Fathers know how much fruit is enough to fill the bucket without overflowing it and making a mess, and they want good things for their children.
Sometimes fathers step in and take over when their kids are ruining the fruit, because they want good things for their children. Other times they let some squishing happen so their little ones will learn, because they want good things for their children. They know the best time to take their kids to the field for a harvest, and when to take them home before they make a mess of things, because they want good things for their children.
You know what else?
If you’re in Christ, that’s how your Heavenly Father is towards you.
When you pray for provision, your Father knows the difference between good things and bad, and He wants good things for His children.
When you seek help in your endeavors, your Father knows how to achieve success without breaking things, and He wants good things for His children.
When you ask for more, your Father knows how much is enough, and how much would ruin you, and He wants good things for His children.
Your Heavenly Father knows the best time to answer your prayers, and the best way to answer them, too. He knows when to say “yes” and when to say “no” and when to say “wait,” and He wants good things for His children.
So, no matter what your situation looks like right now or how long you’ve been waiting for an answer to your prayer, if you’re in Christ may you take heart in this…
Your Father wants good things for you.
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11)
