No More Tantrums!

Can adults throw tantrums?  Oh yes!! And we do!! I think we have one idea of what a tantrum is. We think it's literally kicking and screaming, and demanding to have our way.  Well, in a child, it looks like that, but in us adults (specifically children of God), we can look, on the outside, like we are truly submitting our wills to God's, but deep down inside, we are angry, and demanding why this is happening to us.  After all, don't we give, and sacrifice, and pray, and fast?  Aren't we in church, and talking with others on the phone for hours just to encourage them?  We even say (to ourselves only), "I don't deserve this pain!" We question God's faithfulness--and even His motives!! (Forgive me, Father, for all the times I have done this). In essence, we're throwing a tantrum!

We all have to go through things, and many times our trials seem to go on forever.  If you are facing an illness, or an ongoing financial issue, or a problem in your marriage that you and your partner can't ever seem to see eye to eye on, some pain just lasts a long time.  But the truth is, whether your trial is a couple of days, a few months, or many years, there is great potential in it, to make you exactly what God wants you to be.

As a parent, I can look at one of my children, in the midst of something quite painful for them, and want really badly to help them get out of the painful thing.  But God allows me to look at the bigger picture, and He shows me that they need to actually go all the way through what they are facing.  It would be detrimental to them in the long run if I rescue them.  If I continue to rescue them, I cause them to develop at  a slower rate-or not to get the lesson at all.  What kind of parent would that make me!?  

When I picture God, my sweet, wonderful Father, looking at me during a particularly difficult trial, I picture pain in His face.  I believe His heart aches because mine aches.  I am sure He does not rejoice in my sorrow, but painfully, sternly, allows patience to have her perfect work in me.  Because He is absolutely all-knowing, He sees the end--and knows that in order for me to become like Him, there are things in me that must be killed.  My flesh cannot be the loudest voice, if I truly want to be used by God.  I've got to hear His voice over all the other voices, and in a trial, the old me gets crushed, and a fragrance that God loves comes forth.  I learn to trust Him on a deeper level, and I experience such a beautiful love, as He takes me step-by-step through the whole thing.

 "But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ, 9 and become one with him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith—counting on Christ alone. 10 Now I have given up everything else—I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with him. 11 So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead."    Phil. 3:7-10 (TLB)

God responds to faith-not tantrums.  Whenever you find yourself throwing a tantrum again, realize how ridiculous you look, because God in still on the Throne, and it's time we grow up and really submit to His will.  Allow Him to change you--and yes, it does happen through pain, but in the end, it is all worth it, if we come out looking like Christ! Hallelujah!