By: Lyndsay Crews
Toy stores make my palms sweat. (RIP ToysRUs) So the mere fact I chose to take my almost 2-year-old son into one shocked even myself. I wanted to surprise him with a (super discounted) toy motorcycle. After we arrived, I jumped out of the car, put him in a buggy (buggy means shopping cart for my non-southern mommas) and headed towards the doors excited with anticipation. We were barely inside when he decided to climb out of the cart. Come on, really? I told him we would have to leave if he did that one more time. Gauntlet thrown. And there went his leg…up and over the cart. We left. He was crying because we left a toy store and I was sad because he couldn’t receive the intended toy (blessing) I had planned for him.
After the gauntlet is thrown, we have to follow through with the threat…even when we don’t want to. That’s what makes us good parents and what makes God a good father. So when we disobey God, there are usually obvious consequences: speeding tickets, hurt relationships, jail. But just like my son, we will never know how many blessings we missed out on because of our disobedience.
“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it-they will be blessed in what they do.” – James 1:25
What is God asking of you? Stop speeding? Befriend a neighbor? Get out of your comfort zone? Try to obey God even if there are no obvious consequences because you never know when you might miss out on a surprise blessing.