We Do our Part. He Does His.

Last Thursday was one of THOSE days. My morning had been a little busy but good. Then William had come home without his sweatshirt or his coat, meaning he was going to have only a small jacket to wear the next morning. I got back home with William from the dentist before Rich made it home from Mariama's guitar class, so I got started on dinner. Unfortunately, I did not do it the way Rich had planned, so he was disappointed and I felt bad. Since Mariama had some issues making right choices on Wednesday, I felt like I had to follow her around to make sure she made right choices. Every time Rich and I tried to shake off the frustrations, something else would happen to aggravate us again.  One of those days when none of it is really bad, but the combination just makes the day hard. 

Then it was bedtime. It is probably my favorite time of day, because we get to talk with our children. I was working on putting the girls to bed and walked by William's room. I was shocked to find him reading a book, not that I was shocked to see him reading a book, but rather shocked that he had already finished reading His Bible. I asked if he had already read his Bible. He said he had but my gut told me differently. I asked if he had really read or simply skimmed. I just kept looking at him. He said that he could look back over it. He then admitted that he had only read the section headings.

I was so upset! He had lied to me! He had disrespected me! He disrespected God! 

After taking my shower to settle down, I went back in William's room to talk with him. He apologized and confessed to having read only the section titles for a while now. Once again, my heart was broken, but it made me feel better that he confessed and that he asked for forgiveness. Then the conversation got deeper....

William said that he he has been struggling and has been asking God for help, but he does not feel like God is answering. I tried to help him see some answers that I knew about already.  I also reminded him that God promises, "seek and you shall find, ask and you will receive, knock and the door shall be opened." God promises to answer but we must first seek, ask, and knock. We cannot expect God to answer, but not do our part, basics such as reading His Word. That is like a farmer expecting a field to produce a crop without going to sow the seed (or a man asking God for work but not sending out resumes or getting out to apply). We have to be obedient to what we know to do. God is ready to answer.  However, we might not be hearing if we are not reading His Word, or maybe He is answering in a way we do not expect. 

He began to see my point.  Then it was time to pray before bed. I asked him to pray first, and then I would. He confessed to the Lord and kept asking over and over again if God could forgive him. I let him finish his prayer while I stepped out to grab my Bible.  I turned to 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  When he finished praying, I read this verse to him. Then I talked with him about what it means to confess.  True confession involves admitting our sin (be it doing what God has told us not to do or not doing what God has told us to do), understanding why it is sin, and desiring not to repeat that sin again.  So if we truly confess, then we can be confident that He forgives us because He is faithful and He keeps His promises. We do not have to wonder if He can or if He will, for His promise is there. What a comfort! What joy! What confidence! 

Friday was a new day and we enjoyed God's mercies, which are new every morning. He still had to suffer consequences for yesterday, getting out in the freezing cold to go to school without his large coat, but thankfully yesterday's unrighteousness was washed away. 

Today, I got the pleasure of taking William to school and sitting in on their chapel time. I recalled the above story as we sang "There is a Fountain." 

"And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."