Confusing Messages

I was facilitating a craft time with 3rd and 4th graders when one child started crying. He told me he didn't like his craft. I asked him why not, and he said that someone had said something he didn't like about it. I asked him if he would like me to talk to that person. He said no, that it had been his mother and I shouldn't talk to her about it. This boy was one of the sweetest kids I had ever met. He followed the rules, was knowledgeable yet not proud, he cared for others and was just generally more mature than most boys his age. When I heard that his mother had downed his artwork, I wanted to cry and scream at the same time. What kind of a mom would say her child's artistic ability was not good enough?

That evening, I ate dinner with his family. I had, clearly, decided before I sat down with them that I was not going to like them. But the longer I sat with them, the more I realized how complicated the situation must be. It was clear that that little boy's mom loved him. She wasn't trying to crush him. But she did. How many times do parents give a confusing message to their children.

Whether it's a mother or a father, a friend or neighbor that may be sending a hurtful message, ask God for wisdom on what the intention of that message is. I can't even tell you how many times I have been angry about things that hurt me when I should have been thankful that I was loved at all. The only perfect parent in all of creation is God Himself. I don't even claim to understand what He does and how He does it. But I KNOW that He is good, and all that He does is good. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." (Is 40:28, NIV) Sometimes I don't understand why God puts me where he does or why I encounter the people I do. But I know that God understands me better than I do, and that is comforting sometimes. When you get confusing messages, ask God for wisdom and grace to sort through them. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" (James 2:5, NIV).

And now, "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen" (Jude 1:24-25, NIV).