#1 The Request
Our little boy woke up yesterday afternoon wanted to have something to eat. So wife asked him what he wanted to eat, and he said he wanted an apple. Happy that Caleb wanted to eat, wife went to dig up the last apple that was in the fridge but found out that it was already rotten, and so told Caleb that he can't eat the apple.
#2 The Demand
Caleb got quite unhappy at that and demanded that he must eat the apple. But wife was insistent that it was not good for him and didn't want to give it to him.
#3 The Anger
Caleb then got angry and put on his pouty lips and angry face (something like the picture below perhaps). He told wife that he was angry with her, and when asked why, he said because she didn't allow him to eat the apple.
The Lesson
Sometimes, our interaction with God is like that, isn't it? We ask, then we demand, and when we don't get what we want, we yell and scream, we get angry with God. But see it from God's perspective.
#1 The Delight
God delights in us going to Him as the Father to ask for things. If it's good for us, He is more than willing to give it to us. Luke 11:11-13 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
#2 The Loving Refusal
But God knows that some things are just not good for us. We may not know it, but these things will hurt us. Just as the bad apple will give Caleb a bad tummy, our wants may not be good for us. It is because God loves us so much that He does not want us to be given things that are not good for us. Just Caleb needs to trust his mummy that his mummy knows and loves him so much that she doesn't want him hurt, we need to trust God who is all-knowing and all-loving.
#3 The Patient Father
When we get angry with God, because we don't get our way, no matter how good, how noble or how right the request/demand may seem to us, God doesn't punish us for it or gets impatient with us. He continues to love us, continues to guide us in making the right decisions. Sometimes He may show us why he refuses our wants, sometimes He may not. But His patience and His love will continue to flow and shine through, and He will not refuse us things that are good for us, even if we continue to demand also for things that are bad for us, which He obviously won't accede to.
