The Pleasure of a Parent

   In my continued search for what pleases God (what makes Him happy, what brings a smile to His face), I was struck this morning by the parallel with our own parenting. (So many of these blog posts have come out of such insights.) Doesn’t it please your tender parent’s heart when your child trusts in and relies on you...when he or she looks to you for advice or comfort, knowing how greatly you care for them?

   Always we must ultimately direct them to their perfect Father in Heaven. However, He has allowed us the privilege of being His representative ‘with skin on.’ here on earth. Whether you remember these times from the distant past or are currently raising little ones, you can feel the consuming love and tenderness in your heart as those small arms reach out to you with trust and dependence. They know your heart toward them, never questioning your desire to be all they need at that moment. This heart of ours toward our children never changes, no matter their age.

   I believe God feels the same way about us. It pleases Him when we turn to and rely on Him for even the smallest of circumstances. No matter how youthful or grey our hair, our outstretched arms bring Him joy. His parent’s heart overflows toward us.

   Sometimes I think we’re reluctant to reach out to Him because we feel somehow we’re ‘bothering Him’ with insignificant concerns. But when we truly understand that it pleases Him when we trust in and rely on Him, praying without ceasing’ throughout our days, we can come to Him happily without restraint or reluctance.

   My mother rarely had the opportunity to go out to eat. In the days of my childhood, going out to eat was a rarity for most people. One time she was able to attend a special dinner with my father, who was a history teacher. Every summer he had to work at a second job to make ends meet. So this was a special evening for both of them as they attended a prepaid event.  The menu options were abundant, and it was rather like a cruise, in that you could have as many different items as you wished.  My mother, however, was reluctant to order more food because she didn’t want to keep bothering the waiter. She found out later, however, that the waiter was paid extra every time he had to go back to the kitchen for a customer!

   By no means am I comparing our Creator to a waiter, but the parallel still speaks truth to us:  Sometimes the bother in our eyes is, instead, a blessing to the Giver.