Meltdown

One of the unpleasant parts of parenting is your child having a meltdown in public. For you parents, you know the meltdowns where you are convinced a demon just body snatched your child and you are feverishly looking for a young priest and an old priest. Have you ever noticed the reason behind a meltdown is always ridiculous. For example my son, Brayden, was the KING of meltdowns. Here is a short list of reasons why:

- He couldn't reach the cake on the counter

- there was ketchup on his burger

- He had to eat mashed potatoes

- He didn't want to wear his shoes

- He wanted to be a fire fighter but he was only 2

- I wanted to take a picture of him

- I picked him up from daycare

- He wasn't allowed to eat the entire bag of Hershey Kisses (like the Easter size bag)

- I stopped him from eating dirt

- He put body butter in his hair

- I took the nail polish away from him because he dumped it on my couch

I'm not going to lie, when he had a meltdown I would need to lock myself in a room because it was like listening to nails on a chalkboard. At times it was really hard for me to recover and just go back to being a kind and gentle mommy because I was just WAITING for the next ridiculous meltdown to occur, so I was on edge...a lot.

Because of the way I felt with my own kids, I began to notice that I was seeing God from a skewed perspective. If I, as an adult, would have a meltdown about something (usually things that are ridiculous) I would think that God needed to separate Himself from me until I was "done" because my voice was like nails on a chalkboard and then He would also be WAITING for me to have another meltdown so I thought He was always irritated with me because I should know better and should be able to contain myself. I would try to keep myself composed and "handle" things because I didn't want to annoy God with my issues after all they were MY issues, not His. I felt like I was walking on eggshells when I would try and pray or just live life.

We can be guilty of viewing God through the lens of our human emotions or encounters. What we can forget is that He doesn't operate the way people do because He is not human, He is God, completely perfect and always good. He extends mercy when we don't deserve it, He gives grace extravagantly, He is kind to the hateful, He is loving to the un lovable, He forgives the unforgivable...He is everything we are not, He is a good Father. Some people flinch when they hear God being referred to as "Father" because they immediately connect that word with their human experiences. Maybe you were abused as a child and instead of being met with mercy when you messed up you were met with a closed fist. This can skew the way we see God, because we can see Him as a God who will correct us with a closed fist instead of mercy. Maybe you were raised by parents who were distant and un involved with your life. We can then view God as being distant and un interested in our lives. Maybe you were not loved as a child so now you feel as though God doesn't love you. Maybe you moved from foster home to foster home feeling unwanted and now you feel as though God could never want you either.

Speaking from experience, I have discovered that these are all lies. I have learned that regardless of the experiences I may have had with my earthly parents, this in no way, shape or form dictates the way God loves me and cares for me. I now have the ability to see the imperfections of people and not project that onto God. Sometimes friends hurt us, but Jesus is the best friend we ask for. Relationships end and we feel betrayed, but God is faithful to us. People leave us when we need them to most but God will never forsake us nor leave us. People say things that hurt and diminish our purpose but Gods thoughts towards us are good. People don't believe in us but God has a plan and a purpose for our lives. People can be cruel, but God is good. People can be unjust but God is just. People can use words loosely Gods words never fail. You see, we can't measure God by the people we encounter.

In Ephesians 1:17 it says, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." We need the Spirit of wisdom to know what is not of God and we need the Spirit of revelation so we are set free from the lies that we have been bound by because the truth has set us free. All of these things help us to know HIM better and we begin to see things through HIS perspective, which is eternal not carnal. When we see Him through our human experiences we are hindered in our ability to know Him personally. He wants YOUR heart, He doesn't want you to just know facts about Him, He wants you to KNOW Him personally.

If you are struggling with hurts you have received from those in your life and they are hindering you from having a personal relationship with God I would love to pray for you. Please send me your prayer requests here.

1. What things happened in your lifetime that has prevented you from seeing God as a good Father?

2. How has this effected your ability to have a personal relationship with Him?

3. What human encounters are you projecting onto who God is to you?

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.