As I sit here on my couch, looking out the window, I’m reminded of God’s goodness and His faithfulness. There are so many things the Lord is teaching me through our daughter. Sometimes, I just laugh! A few weeks back, I tried to attack the oh-so-exciting potty training of our 2-year-old daughter, for the second time. It was going beautifully! The first day of attempts came to an end with mommy and baby both exhausted. She had wet herself more times then I could count. With each passing day, she grew better and better. In fact, I believe we got down to one mess a day. But then, out of nowhere, she decided to regress, again. I became so weary, that I threw the towel in. (Probably even a couple of towels….) She knew what I wanted/needed her to do. However, she flat-out refused to do it.
Then it hit me-I am her!! What? Really?? I felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit whisper, “Exactly.” Needless to say, that thought left me baffled and full of questions. The Lord was not comparing me to a toddler, prone to tantrums. (Though, for most of us, that analogy would be spot on too.) No, the Lord was showing me something different. “How many times do I show you the way to fix a situation? But because it’s too painful, you take things into your own hands, you believe your way is better.” You see, our daughter regressed because she wasn’t willing to tolerate the pain and discipline it takes to potty train. However, as her mother, I can see the many benefits of her becoming potty trained-benefits that she can’t see right now.
There are so many times in our life we act just like my 2-year-old little girl. In your marriage, God has shown you certain things that you need to work on. Things that either need to be thrown out, need to be fine-tuned, or things that need to be discussed between you and your spouse. But because the pain and (more so) discipline that road is going to lead us down is not something we bargained for, we simply hit the breaks. God sees the benefits and outcome of you growing in His ways and applying His truth to your marriage-even when you don’t see those benefits. Don’t you think it’s about time we grow-up, and put on our Christian underpants instead of our Christian diapers? Fortunately for us, our God is so gracious and merciful; He’s not willing to give up on us, as I was so ready to do with my own daughter.
~Shanté
