Do you remember the pull-ups commercial from TV? The catch phrase was “mommy wow, I’m a big kid now!” Well, pull ups are training diapers. They are pulled on like underwear for children who are being potty trained and unlike normal diapers they allow the child to “feel” wet when they wet their pants.
Yesterday evening, I took a wet pull-up off of my son Matthew and asked him to use the potty. After he finished his expedition to the potty chair he came back into the living room where I had gotten out a new pull-up and pajama pants. I asked him nicely to please put them on and then walked into my room. Not thirty seconds later my bedroom door opened and my wife asked, “Why is Matthew naked?” As you can imagine I was wondering the same thing. After all I had specifically asked my son to get dressed. I went out into the living room and spoke to my son and offered to help him get dressed. He then started to yell “I want to be naked” over and over again and proceeded to run out of the room.
Once I had finished laughing at this statement and had relayed my boy’s message to my wife I gathered up his pajamas, socks, and pull-up and started to dress him despite his very vocal protests regarding his need for nudity. Somehow this sly little guy did an evasive maneuver and escaped wearing nothing but a pull-up and pajama pants. Once again he started running around and yelling about the benefits of being a nudist.
This time my wife had the idea of let him run. After all, we both knew that it would be a matter of time before our little guy learned his lesson. And guess what happened; not two minutes later my son was holding his shirt because he was chilly and was requesting my help.
You see my son is two and a half years old and as I sit to write this and it is January. Not exactly the best nudist or topless weather (not that nudism or toplessness is ever good). Also he is a little young to be deciding what is best for himself in regards to clothing choice. This funny little parenting episode led me to thank my God that He does not let me always get my own way. God has said no to many of my requests and I have to wonder if He hasn’t chuckled a little bit, shook His head, and said, “kids!” “If you only knew what you were asking for you wouldn’t ask.”
I mean think about it. Matthew was just looking at the now. This will be fun, now. I can experience freedom, now. Being naked is a good time, now. But then something happened. He got cold and realized Daddy wasn’t just a big meany. Daddy knew he would be cold and was looking out for his son’s best interest.
So here is the challenge, next time God says, “NO”, realize that your Daddy is looking out for your best interest. Just because we desire something that is good does not mean that we desire something that is good for us. Just as I knew the outcome of my son’s nudist running: he would get cold. So does our God know the outcome of our desires and if that outcome can harm us or harm our relationship with God, then there is a good chance God will say no.
Originally Written January of 2008
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