I woke up this morning and looked out my window to see the Vegas skyline rising behind the Trump Plaza, and all I could think about was my oldest son, TJ. His major challenge in life is actually my strength. He resists reading and writing, and his resistance has finally caught up with him. The magnet program at his school has a pre-AP English course that requires a great deal of discourse, and then the students must reflect on the discussion in their writing. When we spoke via videophone last night, I could see the frustration in his eyes, in his mannerisms, and I heard his struggle in his voice. Initially, I was angry because he had allowed himself to get behind in his assignments, but then I realized that he simply was avoiding things that he had always avoided, but having never been truly confronted about his avoidance issues, he now has deadlines pending that require him to alter his behavior and engage NOW.
As a father, my first emotion was anger that my son would allow himself to get into this situation. Didn't he know that I have a master's in English? Didn't he know that I would have gladly spent time with him going over everything and helping him finish all his assignments? What if his teacher had not called and let me know about his lapses...what could have happened if I had not gotten the word to step in and intervene? What was he thinking? And then...it hit me...isn't that what I do with my heavenly father? Don't I know that he owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Don't I know that his desire for me is to prosper, to have life and to have it more abundantly? Why is it that we have challenges, and though our heavenly Father has all that we need, he usually has to find out about everything thru the prayers/communications of someone else: mothers, fathers, spouses, prayer intercessors?
In this time with my son, God has shown me that I need to come to Him with ALL my issues, and I need to have the confidence in knowing that having been tempted Himself, in all points, without having sinned, He is able to deliver us. So now, thru my dissappointment with my son, I found the compassion that Christ had and has for me, and how in the midst of it all, he looks beyond my faults, and sees my needs.
Show the love of Christ to everyone you encounter today, and begin to extend the compassion to others that is perpetually being extended to you. In my reflections on these truths, the scripture that admonishes us to be slow to wrath came to mind...wrath can really cloud your thinking. Good thing I was here to see that Vegas skyline...reflection is a God thing.
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