Last night LeeAnn gave the whole family haircuts. What a blessing to have a great hairdresser as a wife! As I was getting my haircut the kids hung around us and continued to play with all of LeeAnn’s “tools”. As they enjoyed the handheld mirror, I told them, “Be careful…don’t drop that mirror. Don’t break it…I’m warning you!” as a good father might say.

Only a few moments later, Aadyn, my oldest, drops the mirror and it instantly shatters. The kids stand there in shock. LeeAnn and I yell, “stay away from the glass” and make an attempted to get them away from the scene. I called them all over to me and said, “Do you see why I told you not to play with that? You could have all that glass in your feet. Do you understand why your Mom and I tell you not to do something? It’s for your own benefit and safety.”

Immediately God “reminds” me that He does this same thing with me all the time (without all the shouting I’m sure). Constantly His word, and the Holy Spirit, tell me, “don’t go there, don’t do that, don’t watch that, don’t say that…..” But I do it, thinking I know better than Him. As the “mirror breaks” or whatever the reaction to my disobedience is, God stands there like I was last night. Easily He could say, “I told you so” but instead He loves and forgives me and give me another chance.

How dumb can we be to continue to play with things that can cause us harm, only to see, time and time again, the reaction to it. Our sin can leave us cut (emotionally, physically, mentally) but God is there to clean up the mess and keep us away from the “glass”. As children of the Most High, we have a protector and a Father that keeps us safe despite our stupid reactions. I think it would be so easy for God to get frustrated with us and say “Enough…” but He doesn’t. His Mercies are NEW every morning! Although the result from our sin is death, God protects us many times from that. It doesn’t stop us from the punishment some times, but God continues to love us.

If you have children, you can probably relate well to my story. It seems God likes to continue to remind us of how much He loves us and how much His Grace covers a multitude of our sins! Thank you Jesus!

M