Share

Now that my toddler is old enough to acquire for himself, we've been working on teaching the boys the value of sharing. Sometimes, they're great at it, and other times, we take a trip to meltdown city, where I play sheriff and tell my 3 year old he may not hoard toys. "All the toys belong to me," I remind him, "and I gave them to you and can also give them to him. You have to share." He doesn't like that, but he gets it.

He's actually an excellent sharer with his little brother. Here he is biting off pieces of peach for him <3

A few parenting articles have come out explaining to other parents why they don't ask their kids to share with strangers. They say in the real world, I don't just share my car with someone who wants to use it, I'm not going to force my kid to share their toy just because someone else wants it. I think this points out something about sharing society as a whole has missed: it can't be coerced or forced, but is an extension of something recognized as valuable to someone else to create an enhanced experience for all involved.

We as a culture just don't value sharing, until we need something and even then, there's a shame in having to ask for something that belongs to someone else. Maybe this is the reason the idea of a "personal relationship with Christ" is so prevalent in the church, not in the sense that your parent's faith isn't enough to establish a relationship with God for you, but that your relationship with God is YOURS and nobody gets to ask about it, let alone say anything about it.

This personalization of our faith makes us feel uncomfortable to pray out loud in a group, or share our testimony with people. When asked what our relationship with God is like, we keep it short, so as to avoid all judgement of someone who might think we're "not doing it right." Or, if we're not afraid of having our faith analyzed, we deny that sharing our stories can enhance our own or anyone else's faith, so we stay quiet.

Revelation 12 says that the accuser of the brethren, which we hold as an illustration of Satan, was hurled down, and that believers triumphed over him by the blood of Christ and the word of their testimony. (vs 10-11) Stories of faith, beginning in Exodus when Moses commanded the people to observe the Passover and tell future generations of what the Lord had done, going all the way to Paul, who by sharing his revelation of Christ even in suffering from jail stirred the new, growing church into life and what we know today, embolden our communities, give confidence where there is apprehension, and beats back the darkness that so many of us encounter on a daily basis, both for ourselves and each other.

Your stories have power. So much power that Satan works overtime to keep you thinking that they're not important or worth sharing so that our silence would create and foster disorientation, doubt and a spirit that is overwhelmed instead of one that overcomes.

I encourage you, whether your story is dramatic like mine or consistent and sweet like so many that I know, tell someone what the Father has done in your life. All of our stories are His, and He wants us to share with each other what He's done in our lives so that collectively, we would understand His heart to greater degrees, so that we would be roused by each other's victories and so with Him, we would overcome that which would seek to enslave us.

Are you listening?

Having 2 boys means I'm a mom who yells, often. My little one learned the word "no" 3 months sooner than his older brother did, and my 3 year old has known for awhile that he has a will, but only recently learned that he ALSO has power to exert that will. That means a LOT of putting my foot down, and when I ask for something, either to be done or to be ended, the world stops until it is. Usually, the boys try to distract me, engage in a power struggle or bring up something completely off topic, and I have to point out that we can't talk about or do anything else until what I asked for is done. I don't do this because I want to force or impose my will over theirs, but because I never ask without reason, without their best in mind, or without trying to teach them something.

I was actually talking about this with a friend of mine, comparing the epic meltdowns our children had that day, and she asked "why don't they just listen to us?" I couldn't help but laugh out loud, to her confusion, and remind of her a scenario that had happened a few weeks prior:

She called me with an urgent prayer request, asking that I get on my "red phone" and ask God what He wanted from her. This was actually something we had prayed about before, regularly even. When I prayed, I felt Him say, "My answer hasn't changed from last time." He had given his response, and wasn't about to change because she didn't like that answer. Before I shared what I'd heard, I asked what she felt He was saying. "I hear nothing," she said despondently.

Missionary and theologian A.W. Tozer is quoted saying, "Most Christians don't hear God's voice because we have already decided we aren't going to do what He says." Like the parent who says, "I'm not gonna yell, I told you what to do and that's it," God establishes His will and waits for us to listen. 

Now, you might be listing all the reasons why you "don't listen" to what God says to do, whether you're afraid of the result, or think you know better for your life and now just isn't the time to do ___, but at the end of the day, it boils down to the exact same reason that my kids don't listen to me: we don't obey because we don't want to.

I mentioned earlier that I don't ever ask my kids to do something without either a good reason, or the possibility that I have more information than they have. More than that, though, I desire their obedience at this age because it will create their value of my voice and their trust of me and my heart for them later, when issues far more critical than "please stop jumping on the couch" arise. In order for us hear our Father during pivotal, monumental moments, we have to begin with saying "yes," to the things He asks us for now.

If you haven't heard from God lately, I would encourage you to look at the last thing He asked you to do/not do, that you said "no" to. I would ask you to examine why you said no: Is it that you don't trust Him to have the result of said action under control? Is it that you're afraid you can't live up to what you're being called to? Does it just feel like a bad time and you can't fit this one more thing into your life? I will remind you, it wasn't raining yet when Noah built the ark, and people thought he was insane, but his obedience is what saved his family. (Heb 11:7) Whatever it is, lay down the power struggle and listen to what the Father has told you. He has more information than you do, a greater perspective than you have, and your best interest at heart.