When God won't back you up...

I know, I know. God is always there for me. I have no doubt about that; however, sometimes God just won't back me up!

This week has been a hodgepodge of ups and downs...mostly ups. I was feeling pretty good about life in general! Then I went to see my son four hours away and got a less than excited reception. He was in a mood and as usual, since I'm a safe place to vent, I caught the storm cloud. I'd love to say I was a mature person and just let it slide, but to be honest, I was hurt. I guess I was looking for one of those made for movie welcomes where the son gets tearful and hugs his mom like he's actually glad to see her. Instead, my son was asleep and when I woke him, it was like he'd forgotten he'd asked me to come. I was there to help with some paperwork that couldn't be done over the phone. Anyway - the particulars aren't what this blog is about. 

I left from my visit hurt. I had planned on taking him out to lunch but after my reception and the subsequent trip to the college, I decided to just sign the papers and make the four-hour drive home. He could figure out lunch on his own. 

This morning, I decided to look up verses on what to do when someone you love hurts you. 

Matthew 5:44-47
“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

Well, that wasn't what I was looking for. I mean, after all - my son isn't exactly my enemy! Try again.

Romans 12:1-2
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

God, you are not backing me up, here!

Luke 6:27
“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. 
Luke 6:37
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Come on, God! You're not playing fair! He's my child and yet he acts like I'm his enemy! You don't understand...oh, wait. I guess You do understand.

How many times have I gotten angry at God for my own failures? How many times have I blamed Him for the way life was treating me, (when actually, I had pretty much been found sleeping when I should have been up and about His business?) How many times have I gotten mad because MY plans weren't playing out the way I thought they should? How many times have I responded to His gifts by looking at what others have and practicing envy instead of gratitude?

Yet never once has He turned His back on me. Never once has He washed His hands and said, "Enough!" I can always come back as a His child, knowing that my Father loves me and will care for all my needs.

It's hard to admit that a child acts like, well, a child sometimes. It's hard to watch as they do things that hurt themselves and those around them. It's hard to take the brunt of their frustrations - but parents often do, (no matter what age their child happens to be.) Why? Because no matter what, that parent will love. That's what God did for us. 

I guess I should have taken my son out to lunch after all.

Photo by Atlas Green on Unsplash