Meet You ThereSample

KICKING AND SCREAMING

After two years of loving and caring for our needy babies, we wake up one day to meet a kicking and screaming little monster. Sweet laughter can turn into a full-blown war in less than a second. It feels impossible to meet our tantrum tyrant where he is at that moment. And we often find ourselves feeling terrible afterward. We wonder how we could have handled the situation differently. And later, when we see our child sleeping peacefully, he is just a helpless baby again. Fortunately, God knows exactly how to meet his children where they are.

After Jonah’s big fish episode, he moves on to a tantrum. Actually, two tantrums in 24 hours. When God did not deal with the people of Nineveh as Jonah wanted, He reacted like a two-year-old monster. “Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen” (Johah 4:3, NLT). And he stormed away to sit on his own outside the city (v. 5). How would you have handled Jonah if you were God?

As we know from experience, handling a child at the height of a tantrum is no easy task. Whatever we try just seems to make it worse. But God knows exactly how to love his children exactly where they are. He found the perfect balance between bringing calm to the situation while staying firm with Jonah. “And the Lord arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant” (Jonah 4:6, NLT). And even though a worm ate the tree the next morning, Jonah was in a better space to accept God’s discipline (v. 7-11).

Do you sometimes behave like a tantrum-throwing child with God? How does it make you feel that He knows exactly how to meet you there in love? How does God’s unconditional love change the way you think about his ways when you do not understand them?

Let us always find comfort in our Father’s arms, even when we are kicking and screaming to get our own way. “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love… The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust” (Psalm 103:8;13-14, NLT).