Acceptance vs. Demand

  Recently, I saw this humorous video clip that is making the rounds on social media. It was taken of a four-year-old little boy, who lives in Pennsylvania and wanted to go outside and play, following one of the major snowstorms that hit the East Coast this winter.

 While we laugh and think this is cute, this also provides us with a lesson in human nature. So often, rather than deal with our circumstances, we just ask Jesus to take them away from us. Not understanding the character that God wants to build in us through our difficulties, we would just as soon pray for Him to remove them and give us the easy road. And yet, with God, there rarely are "easy roads." He will allow great times of suffering but all for our growth and benefit. Once we realize that He is always about turning us into better people, maybe then we will pick up our shovel and quit asking Him to make it easier on us. If we want to become people of strength and character, then we must accept the challenging times. And we must learn to not make demands on God that satisfy our own agenda but embrace the situation the way that it is and look for the blessing hidden inside.