Posts
A Happy Landing
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.. – Jesus (Matthew 6)
A few years ago (or maybe it has been decades), when I was in college, I suddenly got the bug to get a sports car. Up to that time, I had survived without a car and had remained debt free through almost two years of college. In spite of that, all of the sudden, I couldn’t wait any longer for a sports car. My parents didn’t think it was a good idea, but I bypassed them and got my grandfather to loan me the money for a good used car. He, however, did not like the idea of a foreign car and pressured me into buying a nice, reliable car. So, I got a nice, reliable car. But, it was not a sports car and didn’t satisfy all of my desire.
A couple of years later, I was able to sell that nice, reliable car and get a loan from a car dealer to fulfill my desire for a sports car. About a year later, I had graduated from college and gotten married. Soon there was a baby on the way and my bride wanted to quit work. Something had to give financially and the only thing that looked optional was my SPORTS CAR. If I had kept the nice, reliable car, we could have enjoyed the conveniences of two cars. If I had listened to my parents, I could have finished college almost debt free. But, I had my desires and I found a way to satisfy them. Besides, it only took four or five years to completely pay off my college debts.
Another man had a great desire to minister full time to men. But, his father wanted him to first work for a few years in his business. This man reluctantly agreed to work with his father, but eventually committed to working in his father’s business for ten years. During those ten years, this man met his wife, got married, had children and began to develop a ministry to men. Now after 13 years, this man has an international ministry to men and to business.
Most of us can probably look back and see messes that we’ve gotten into because of not listening to our parent’s advice or not even seeking it. Some of us may still be suffering with the results of poor decisions. On the other hand, we may also have missed out on blessings because of our stubborn attitude. Today is a good day to re-examine our attitudes and to look at the results of our decisions. Many times we blame God for our problems when we sowed the seeds that are producing the harvest. It might also be a good day to bless or honor our parents for their attempts to help us even when we didn’t appreciate their efforts. But, whether we do that or not, we should be honest with God, our heavenly Father, about our past mistakes in ignoring His guidance and seeking our own desires. Today is a good day to change our mind and our approach to decisions. Just as in flying an airplane, the guidance we have on our approach to the runway is critical to a successful and happy landing.
“Listen to your father that begot you and despise not your mother when she is old.” (Prov 23:22)
“For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death” – Jesus (Matthew 15:4)
Not 100% sure your point... Based on the verses you noted, I get the impression that you are saying we should do what our parents say "period", even if we don't agree with them, otherwise we will not be blessed by God and miss his "perfect" plan. When parents are not looking out for their kids best interest are their children still supposed to do what they say?
ReplyDeleteOn the car subject. We can try to get a "easy pass" by listening to others and our parents that have good advice, but at some point we have to become mature not leaning on the knowledge of others. The times that I have learned the most are when I have made mistakes and gained experience and maturity from them.
Have you considered that it is in God's plan / design that we take the "wrong" road so we then learn from it and gain wisdom? Advise from others is simply knowledge...Wisdom is gained from experience.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I believe that one can honor his/her parents and still not follow their advise.
Lastly, sports cars and dreams of a certain type of career are all ok. Sometimes having debt teaches us how great it is to be debt free. In other words, it's about learning from the journey rather than trying to shortcut it.
The child training course, "Love and Logic", speaks of "SLO's". An SLO is a "Significant Learning Opportunity". These occur when children or adults get to learn from the consequences of their wrong choices. I seem to have many SLO's. In fact, I have more than I really want.
ReplyDeleteParents are supposed to help their children learn from SLO's as early as possible because an SLO at a young age is usually much, much less expensive or damaging than at later ages. The older we get the more an SLO can cost in time, money, health or relationships.
Hopefully, you don't find me throwing myself across the path of our children trying to save them from wrong decisions. If they ask my counsel, I'm glad to offer it. Most of us don't want to ask our parents for advice. However, in the past couple of years I have asked my Dad for his counsel on a couple of major decisions. But, as I said, I have more SLO's than I want already and if he has some ideas that might help avoid another SLO then I'm all for hearing it. Of course, I don't have to take his advice but I certainly wanted to hear it for those particular decisions. Since I'm nearly 60 and my Dad is almost 84, I may not get to seek his counsel much longer so I better take advantage of it while I can. Anyone who wants additional SLO's can have some of mine. :-)
Another way to get more SLO's is to ignore our heavenly father's guidance and wisdom as revealed in His Word and through His Spirit. Sometimes a failure to respect our earthly parents and their counsel can be an indication of self-focus, self-as-king and a resulting lack of interest in our heavenly father's counsel and wisdom. Some people may really appreciate a good SLO. They make for interesting articles. But, I personally prefer positive consequences and experiences.