Daddy What Do You Want To Be When You Grow up…
Since it is Monday, I was going to post a bit about my prayer life as the head of my home – or actually how I feel that I fail in being faithful in my devotions and in my prayer. I often ask in my prayers that God would grant more discipline in this regard. But, I am going to change it up a bit tonight.
This evening, just before bed, my daughter was talking (rambling) about what she wanted to be when she grows up, a princess, a ballerina, a cowboy, a dentist (to be honest I kind of tuned her out after ballerina). Then she turned to me and said all in one breath, “Daddy what do you want to be when you grow up oh yeah I know a minister…” then she turned around and kept rambling.
A minister? Where did she get that idea from? A few thoughts simultaneously rolled through my mind when she said that. First – “I am already grown up.” Second – “Why would you think that?” Third – “When I was younger…but how did you know?”
Then we read a bedtime story, it was a book about a hamster’s birthday party. Then I prayed with her before tucking her in to bed. After we prayed, she said to me, “Amen. Daddy, God is good. I love you. Good night.”
Sometimes, when my daughter says things like that, I think, maybe I am not doing that bad at this fathering thing. She sees me as a minister, because I teach her about Jesus, about loving God and other people and pray with her. Even though I am happy when she says these things, at the same time I struggle with being a better dad and husband. I know my weakness. I know where I fail, and it hurts. I struggle with overcoming sin and temptation in my life; I struggle with having a more fervent prayer life. I pray for a faith like that which my daughter has…you know the Childlike faith that is spoken of in Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
So in my struggles to have a childlike faith, to overcome my daily temptations, to overcome the day to day monotony of this fallen life, I will simply wait on the Lord. I will place all my hope in Him alone. He has taken all my sin’s and covered them – what more do I really need? Maybe He won’t remove my “thorn” maybe he is using it to teach me a lesson. This is what JI Packer says about a Christian’s weakness:
“God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly — that is, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak — is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace.”
― J.I. Packer
Even so, I will still pray that God would give me childlike faith and that He would remove all of my “thorns”. 🙂
What do I want to be when I grow up? Well, when I grow up, I pray that I will have the unwavering faith in God like my daughter has in me. I saw this comic earlier today and It sums up quite nicely how I feel this evening:
