“No! Me do!”
Getting
dressed, getting undressed, brushing teeth, washing hands, climbing into the
car, climbing out of the car, buckling seat belts, unbuckling seat belts,
putting shoes on, taking shoes off… I could go on and on and on. Jake’s newest discovery is the mobility of the step
stool. This has opened up so many doors
for his little adventurous spirit… as well as many drawers that should remain
shut.
Some of
these tasks are easy for them to do.
They are 100% capable and complete them independently. Others require my help and they can’t stand
the thought of that! For example, while
getting undressed is easy, getting dressed is a different feat altogether. In order to avoid a complete and total
battle-of-the-wills at 7:00 am, I have learned (painfully, I’ll admit) to allow
“the struggle.”
Let me
define “the struggle:”
Those
simple little morning routines that six months ago took us about fifteen
minutes to complete can now require as much time as an hour…. or more,
depending on the general mood of the morning.
So, instead of trying to rein in my little people who think they can do
everything all by themselves, I let them exert as much effort and determination
as they can possibly muster up, and allow them to give it everything they’ve
got. My
struggle to get two toddlers out the door in the morning has been replaced with
their struggle to figure it out, and
in the process, has provided pure entertainment for a Momma at her wit’s end.
This week,
as “No! Me do! No! Meeeeee do! Nooooooooo! Meeeeee dooooo!” poured out of the
mouth of my wee one, I took a step back and watched, smiling at the sight of
two legs going through the same pant leg…. backwards. After a time of struggling on her own, a tiny
body with a horrible wardrobe malfunction hobbled over and said, “Pease hep!”
And “please help” is my cue. Only after those words are uttered do I step in and assist. Sometimes, my kids realize right away that they need my help and other times it is a painstakingly slow and grueling process. But I wait.
During
that particular struggle this week, I realized that God does the same for
me. He allows “the struggle,” and
probably gets a kick out of my efforts, which always end up completely jumbled without
Him. But He waits patiently for me to
realize that I need Him. That I can’t do
anything without Him, but through Him,
I can do all things because He gives me strength. (See Philippians 4:13)
In Matthew
9:28-29, Jesus asks two blind men, desperate for healing, “Do you believe that
I am able to do this?” As they answer, “Yes,”
Jesus restores their sight and says to them, “According to your faith let it be
done to you.”
Merriam
Webster defines faith as “the firm belief in something for which there is no
proof; complete trust.” During the last six weeks, I’ve had to
repeatedly rely on my so-called “faith.”
And lately, after making my requests known to
God, I’ve often pictured Jesus asking me this same question: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
If I’m honest, sometimes I really don’t. Sometimes, I buy into the lie that God must
need my help. That my efforts could
speed things up, move things along. He
must sit back and chuckle when I tell Him how I think He should run this
show. It is such a ridiculous thought
when I picture the same scenario going on between me and my two toddlers. How
could my efforts do anything but get in His way and muddle things up?
But it’s
right there in the middle of my “struggle” that I remember His power and
strength, and I realize that He is able. There
are numerous more healings in the book of Matthew and each time Jesus makes someone
well, He says something similar.
To the Roman
officer who has faith in a single authoritative word from Jesus, he replies, “Because
you believed, it has happened.” (Matthew 8:13 NLT)
To the
sick woman who reaches out in faith to touch Jesus’ cloak, believing that it is enough to heal her, Jesus says, “Take heart, daughter. Your faith has healed you.” (Matthew 9:22
NIV)
To the
leper who says, “Lord, if you are willing, you
can make me clean,” Jesus answers, “I am willing. Be clean!”
(Matthew 8:2-3 NIV, emphasis mine)
As I continued
reading about the people Jesus healed and those He raised from the dead and all
the other miraculous things He did, this verse stopped me dead in my
tracks: “And he did not do many miracles
there because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew
13:58 NIV) I so badly do not want to be
that place! Though I’m glad God allows
me to struggle it out on my own, I don’t want to choose that path, if I can help
it. Life is much less hectic, when I allow my faith, not my fear, to direct my
day. If Jesus asks me, “Do you believe
that I am able to do this?” I want my
answer to be a resounding, “Yes!”
So, how do
I get there?
Remembering
how He has worked in my life in the past
helps me to recognize his power and authority in my present.
Focusing
on who He is reminds me of what He is able to do.
Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small
as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and
it will move. Nothing will be impossible
for you.” Matthew 17:20-21
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