So to be honest this past month with Eli has been extremely challenging for both Lindsey and I. He is getting to the spot in life of truly learning what the word “no” means and not getting what he wants. Whether you call it the start of the terrible twos or just him learning independence, it has caused alot of sleepless nights. Screaming, shouting, kicking, did I say screaming, headbutting, yep you name it. It is usually over the dumbest things, like getting him the wrong drink from the fridge or giving him the wrong shoes to wear. The bottom line is he thinks he knows better than Lindsey and I and he wants to do things his own way.
It has got me thinking about the idea of rebellion we have against God at times when we don’t get our own way. Kicking and Screaming, telling God we know better. This goes back to the beginning of time with Adam and Eve. God had one simple command, “Don’t eat of this fruit.” Yet what do they do, they eat of it. “God, we know better. We know what you said, but this apple, orange, whatever it was, really looked good God. so we ate it.”
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” -Genesis 3:6
It may sound ridiculous in comparing Eli’s tantrums to our responses to God, but picture it with me. God as the our father trying to protect us, “don’t touch the hot stove,” yet we as a child learning and desiring independence do the exact opposite. How many times do we do exactly the opposite of what God asks of us. Rebellion at heart. We know Scripture say to forgive, “but God you don’t know what they did to me.” Love the outcast, “but God, and we come up with our excuses.” The list could go on and on of ways we rebel, but next time you do think of it as being like Eli, a baby child kicking and screaming.
In us telling God that we know better, in choosing our own path, what we are really saying is this, “God, in my 34 years of living, I think you should change things and follow my way.” At this point God replies and goes very sarcastically, “You’re right your 34 years truly do outnumber my thousands of years, oh wait all eternity’s worth of time, let’s do it your way.” See what I am getting at? See my point? It is Eli saying to me while throwing a fit, “Daddy in my two years of living, I know more than you.”
What are you rebelling about today? Have you ever pictured it that way before? “NOOOO God, I know better.”
“Today when you hear the voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.” -Hebrews 3:15
I think honestly the hardest part of all of this has been when I know Eli is comprehending what I am saying, and then still choosing to run the other way. It would be one thing if he didn’t understand, but man does it frustrate me when he knows and still does the exact opposite. Sound familiar?
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves, do what it says.” -James 1:22
Do what Daddy says Eli. Do what God says.