"Mommy, I ashes," Kaleb said as he wandered into my bedroom with that cute little pouty face he puts on whenever he wants something. "You're not ashes, you're ashy," his big brother Kedar responded, correcting him.
I sat there giggling rubbing lotion into my palms, still amused by Kaleb saying he was ashes.
Kids are hilarious.
Anyway, I knew Kaleb's pouting and claiming to be ashy, were both mere ploys to aid him in his mission to get me to give him some of my lotion. For some reason, he derives great pleasure from caking lotion or Vaseline all over his body, for purposes that remain a mystery to me.
"Mommy's baby is ashy?" I asked sympathetically, playing along.
"Mmmm hmmm," Kaleb nodded with his lips poked out, while pulling up his pants leg and exposing the perfectly moisturized skin underneath. He didn't need a single drop of skin lubricant.
As I sat there watching little Kaleb's earnest plea for something he wanted, but really didn't need, I thought about how we often do the same thing. We conjure up reasons why certain things are "necessities" in our lives, when in reality, there is no urgency or true need for them.
We can't always see this, but God can.
Thankfully, He is able to decipher between our wants and needs far better than we can, which is why He doesn't answer every prayer affirmatively. Sometimes, He says no or wait, and although we don't much like being denied certain requests, God's way is the best way. He knows if He gave us everything we wanted, right when we wanted it, we would be a mess.
We would never learn patience, longsuffering, or submission to the authority and divine will of God. We would live lives of excess, self-indulgence, and carnality. I often say that God is not the proverbial Santa Claus. He doesn't go around collecting "wish lists" and randomly granting what we want as long as we've been nice, and not naughty.
That's not the way it works in the Kingdom.
Whether we like it or not, there are some seasons when we will make a request and God's answer will simply be, "You don't need it." When this happens, you might feel like you do need it... badly, but if God hasn't granted that request, trust His timing and His sovereignty. There's no need to get upset, frustrated, or bent out of shape. After all, it won't change anything.
You see, the Lord does things according to His plan, not ours. He knows what we need, how we need it, when we need it, or if we need it at all in the first place.
Just submit to His way and allow Him to lead you down the path He has chosen for you. When you lean on God, every true and genuine need will be supplied. "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may you be empowered to prosper!
Dianna Hobbs
www.eewmagazine.com
