The other night we were at the store and Shea wanted a pair of flip flops, which she already owns a few pair and a pair of sunglasses. My first instinct was to ask how much and if they were a few dollars then say okay to both. Then it occurred to me, I am not a bad mom if I don’t give my child everything she wants. Actually, giving her everything she wants is going to do more harm than good, she will expect everything she wants later in life and if it can’t be afforded that could lead to credit card debt or a sense of entitlement. I do not want either of my children to find tremendous value in material possessions or the address in which they will live. I want my children to have what they need in life and I trust God to provide for the needs, the wants is where the danger lies. This is a tough thing for me to admit because there are times where I folded, getting the girls what they wanted and would feel bad if they were upset or sad that they could not get the item. The guilt of a parent, there is not much worse. It really did hit me the other night that it is okay to not fulfill all the wants of a child.
Do you think God works this same way? He fulfills our needs on a daily basis, how often does He fulfill our wants? Probably more than we would like to admit. We like to look at what we don’t receive instead of what we do. Now, Shea was not upset that she could not get both, she chose the sunglasses since hers were broken and was happy with her choice and did not think again about the wanted flip flops. Can we be happy with the wants we have and not focus on the wants we have not received?
If God gave us everything we wanted, then who is really in control? Are we a part of His plan or are we trying to make Him a part of our plan?
