We Can’t Eat Money
Ben and I were invited to speak at Freed-Hardeman University for chapel a few weeks ago. My wife, Whitney was able to attend with us so my mom got the kids ready for school and picked them up after, as Whitney and I made our way home. On the way to FHU, we got a text from mom asking where their lunch was for the day. We had forgotten to prepare lunch for them. Mom made due and the kids purchased a school lunch for the day. In the midst of trying to figure out what to do for their lunch, mom told Hailee that she would just give them money for lunch. Hailee replied “We can’t eat money.” Indeed, Hailee, indeed.
Upon hearing this story, I was reminded of Matthew 7:7-11. Jesus in the famous “Sermon on the Mount” lesson, speaking about God’s willingness to not only hear our pleas but answer them, asks “Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?(CSB)” The majority of parents certainly want the best for their kids. I spend a good portion of my life attempting to discern what is best for my kids or what promotes the love of God in their lives. I know the goals I want to accomplish but the accomplishing them is often a jumbled mess of mistake after mistake. It’s because of my good intentions but messy outcomes, I hold to Proverbs 27:5 “Better an open reprimand than concealed love.(CSB)” My kids at least hear the words “I love you” multiple times a day, even if most of the time I don’t feel adequate in my attempt to show them.
I’m comforted in my less than perfect effort that just being available as a father increases the percentages that my kids are successful. It is better to be accessible and fail from time to time, than be absent. So take heart, parents! I get even more comfort from the rest of the Matthew 7 passage. This might be strange because of how verse 11 starts “If you then, who are evil” but it is how the verse ends that gives me comfort “…know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.” I want to give my kids good things. Things that benefit them and do no harm. I’m limited in my capabilities but God is not.
Better still, He knows what we need when we need it and He wants to provide. He thrives “in the clutch”. Do we trust Him? My kids generally trust me. I don’t want to harm that trust but eventually they will see me, if they haven’t yet, for what I am, a flawed individual. It is my hope that through those flaws they will see that God is not flawed. Jesus is encouraging us in Matthew 7 to ask our good and perfect Father because a genuine plea for an answer is an intimate symbol of trust. A trust that God puts a high value on. It is the essence of faith.
Travis