Candy for breakfast
“Mommy, I’m hungry for breakfast.” Her announcement came ten minutes into our morning routine of milk and snuggles.
“I am, too. What do you want for breakfast?” I brushed wild strands of hair away from her eyes.
She shot out of my lap, blazing her way towards the kitchen pantry. Finagling with the childproof doorknob cover, she finally managed to open the door and pointed at the bowl of candy that lives on the second shelf.
Her eyes lit up as she bounced on her toes. “That!”
“Honey, you can’t have candy for breakfast.” I prepared myself for that act that was to follow.
“But, Mommy… why?” Her bottom lip began to protrude as she set herself in motion for a tantrum.
“Because you don’t need candy first thing in the morning. We never have candy for breakfast. Would you like me to make you pancakes?”
“No!”
“How about toast?”
“No!”
“What about a bowl of oatmeal?”
“NO! I want that!” Her tiny finger shot back up as if I’d forgotten the initial request. But much to her dismay, candy was not only off the menu of options, it was also out of her reach.
“This is the confidence we have toward him (God), that if we ask anything according to His will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” - 1 John 5:14-15
God hears our requests. I have no doubt that His ear is attuned to every prayer His children utter. And I don’t believe God has an issue with us making requests.
But sometimes, whether or not we like it, the answer is no.
Surely, you don’t think of me as an unloving mother for denying my child candy for breakfast. I care greatly about her health, and I have a solid understanding of nutrition. I’d gladly go through greater efforts to give her food that nourishes rather than food that brings about a stomachache… even if that’s what she’s asking for.
Because she, like me, is driven by personal desires and wants. Passions for things that sound good in the moment. Things that are pleasing to the eye and temporarily satisfying to the flesh.
Yet I want more for her. I’ve got better things to give her. The same goes for God, too, and scripture reminds me that all of God’s answers are rooted in His will – His good, and pleasing, and perfect will.
So why, then, would I want anything else?
God will give us everything we need and nothing we don’t, so let’s trust that His replies are always right, loving, and wise.
