MAY I HAVE MORE PLEASE?

“Dad, I want some cereal.” My son Benji would start nearly every morning looking at me with his big brown eyes, a puppy-dog face, a bit of a smile; and his request would come. Of course I can never resist him, no matter what I’m doing at the time! So we head over to the kitchen, he sits down on one of our over-sized stools, and waits.

“Dad, I want Honey Nut Cheerios.” That helped! Because we’ve got 4 different kinds of cereal in the pantry (for 4 different sons). I bring his box of cereal to the counter and grab a bowl from the cupboard.

“Dad, I want my big white bowl over there.” As I reach for it I had to remind him to ask nicely, and not to just tell me what to do. “Dad, may I have my big white bowl please?” (That’s something else that I just can’t resist!)

Now it’s time to head to the fridge for milk, and I know that he’s about to ask me for the 2% kind (we’ve got non-fat, 2%, and whole milk… but I’m not exactly sure why).

“The two-percent please.” I pour Honey Nut Cheerios into his bowl, and that’s when he puts in his next request, “Can you give me a lot of my cereal?”

“Oh yeah, you’ve got soooo much in here that I don’t even think you’ll eat it all!” I’ve learned to say it that way because inevitably my boys love to take-up a challenge, and he’ll try really hard to ‘win’ that one. And what parent doesn’t like that?

“I like lots of milk too, all over my cereal, so that I can drink it when I’m done eating it.” So I snap off the lid, pour a generous amount into his bowl, and slide it over to him. Oh yeah, I forgot the spoon… I grab that and then drop it into his bowl. Ah yes, a feast fit for a king! And he starts munching it down like it’s going out of style!

I can’t help but think that that’s a great parallel to the relationship that I have with my Father in heaven; asking for this, then that, then the other thing.  1^st John 3:22 says, “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are  pleasing in His sight.”

As God’s child I’m given the privilege of asking Him for whatever. And the promise of the Bible is that I will receive whatever it is that I ask. Wow, that’s quite a “bowl of cereal” there! He tells me to keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight, and in the meantime He promises to love me, feed me, take care of me, and bless me.

I know some people who read that passage and think that they’ll never receive from God, because there’s no way that they can keep all of His commandments or always do what pleases Him. But the problem with that line of thinking is that it ignores the reassuring verses just before this one. 1^st John 20-22, “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”

The truth is that there’s no way we’ll be able to keep all of the commandments of God, or always do things that are pleasing to Him (believe me I know!). But He already knows that, and the Apostle John reminds us that we shouldn’t let that stop us from pressing on. Why? Because God’s love is greater than our greatest weaknesses, and His power is greater than our greatest struggle. The children of God are just called to have confidence in Him. He’ll make sure to take care of us no matter what!

I was thinking about it like this: when Benji asks me for his big white bowl, but I see that it’s sitting in the sink and dirty, I’ll grab his small red bowl and feed him with it. Or if he asks me for his cereal–with a bit of a sour attitude–I’ll correct him (and possibly punish him!) But you know what? He can be sure that his dad is going to feed him every single morning no matter how “bad” he is or how “hard” it seems.

As Christians we should have an abundance of confidence and assurance in our Father’s care and provision. As Paul said to the Philippians, we should continue toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us in Jesus Christ.

Walk in confidence in a world that is shaky and unstable! Show others your assurance in the Lord as they struggle toward some undefined goal. Ask God for all things that will help you to win the prize, and He will grant it. And then ask some more… and yes, some more. When Benji asks for more… of course, there’s no way I can resist.

God will never resist either. ‘Do your best and let God take care of the rest’—good words to consider. But never fall into the trap of thinking that He needs the best in order to take care of the rest. After all, we’re just children!