The toddler, clearly in distress, wanted his cup.
"Milk . . .," he whined to his mother when he didn't see it near him.
"Did you leave it in the kitchen?" she suggested.
He raced to the kitchen, but didn't find it.
"Milk!" he said, his little arms slamming down to his sides.
"Is it around the corner?" his mother asked.
He was tired of looking. He wanted what he wanted now.
"Milk . . . milk . . . milk," he cried, laying himself on the floor, getting louder with each utterance.
His mother took about five steps and found the cup.
"There you go," she said, handing it to him, "Be happy."
Something about her words stirred me.
There you go. Be happy.
Is this what persistent prayer does? If I keep asking God, if I'm as relentless as a toddler, will He answer?
There you go. Be happy.
I hate to think about Him responding because He's sick of my whining. Who wants to aggravate God? Yet His Word substantiates the idea that persistence pays off.
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
Luke 18: 7
There you go. Be happy.
David did a lot of crying out to God. A LOT. Too many references to list in a blog post. And God called him a man after His own heart.
There you go. Be happy.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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 good gifts to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:7-11
What weighs on your heart this day, friend? What burden are you trying to buck up and handle? Why not call out to God? Why not take Him at His word and cry out day and night for His hand? Persist until you hear those glorious words.
There you go. Be happy.
2 comments:
Uh, yeah. I do sometimes feel like the kid begging for milk, but even a mother longs to fulfill the needs of her child, right? This doesn't mean that while we're asking, we can't still be happy while we wait though. I think that's my biggest problem. I ask a lot,which I think God wants, but I think he also wants a happy "waiter" too....my two cents. There you go. Be happy!
Love this. It's a great reminder to be persistent in prayer.
There you go. Be happy.
I'm going to remember that one. :)
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