Ask Your Heavenly Father
Let me share one simple lesson with you. Asher is three and everything is a race to
him. “Race you to the door. Race you to the car. Race you to the table, ha-ha, I win!” Asher is teaching both me and our neighbors
in our apartment building patience by his love of racing. You see, he is not yet a good loser or a good
winner. So even if it is a small race,
there may be a noisy melt-down if he loses to me or to one of his sisters. Our sixth floor hallway is often echoing with
the screams of a losing racer because he is emotionally involved in every race
as if it were his last. And yet his
three year old legs are just not yet developed enough to beat anyone in our
family. He keeps racing and unless we
let him win, he keeps losing.
The other day Asher challenged me in a race to put on our shoes. We have done this before. I confess that I like races like this. Any race to get dressed and get out the door
on time is my kind of race. Two days in
a row as Asher competed in this different type of foot race, and saw he was
losing, he asked me to help him. That
struck a chord deep in me about appealing to my heavenly Father. There on the floor is a little three year
old boy trying his best to put on his red and white Velcro shoes. He is struggling with all his might to get
his heel in the back but frustrated because it didn’t seem to work. “Daddy, can you help me?” His voice changed from racing-Asher to needy-Asher. It was my delight to help Asher
beat me putting on my shoes. “Ha ha, I
win!” He gloated as he ran to the front
door. Racing-Asher’s voice is back, and
in his mind he won.
No doubt our heavenly Father looks down as we struggle in
life in the same way I looked at Asher. Perhaps we are struggling with a temptation,
or perhaps we are struggling with some task He has asked us to do. Perhaps we are struggling with a large, life
change or fear of an upcoming conflict.
These are our white and red Velcro shoes. Don’t keep it to yourself. Like a three year old boy, ask your heavenly
Father for help. He delights in
answering your prayers. It is His joy to
kneel down and do the actual work. But
remember one thing. When He has placed those
little shoes on you, and you are through with the conflict, don’t run off like
you did it yourself. Acknowledge that He
is the strong One Who is working all things after His good pleasure.
"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father Who is in heaven…’”
(Matthew 6:9).
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