“I want to do what I want to do,” announced Thomas, insistently, raising his voice above Amelia’s whines of protest. At four and three, the cousins, close as siblings, are at that age marked by power struggles. Both firstborn of two, they lead naturally. You might call them bossy and you wouldn’t be wrong. They love each other deeply and they are fiercely loyal. When Thomas is home and she’s at my house, Amelia constantly asks, “Where’s Thomas?” and vice versa. They will, I’m sure, one day defend each other to a fault but at present, they’re more often parroting their parent’s correction or instruction to the other, as if they didn’t hear, which in all honesty they probably didn’t. They were too busy doing what they wanted to do.
Last time they were all at my house, it was raining. It was time to feed our Great Dane, Jake, so my four eager helpers and I divvy up the scoops and refill his water bowl. Then they swing in the garage while Jake eats and washes his dishes, as Amelia calls it when he slurps water and licks his bowl alternately before heading outside to take care of business. My husband helped me convert one garage bay into a play room last winter when it was too cold to play outside. It has come in real handy on excessively hot days and rainy days alike. We padded the concrete floor with primary colored play squares and he hung two double rocket swings and a baby swing next to the tree tent we built several years ago for fall festival. There’s room for basketball, putting and even for riding scooters, bikes or trikes when I pull the Lolly bus out of the first bay. I think the moms would agree, it’s been a real lifesaver.
Thomas and Amelia were sharing the first swing. Ezra and Timothy were sharing the second. When the toddlers’ bickering started to upset the babies, I stopped their swing to discern the problem. Usually their feet are bumping together or he’s touching her side. This time, Thomas’s bouncing was jiggling Amelia and she wanted him to stop. It was four in the afternoon and these two who rarely take naps because it tends to wreck bedtime were at odds because for Amelia, swinging is resting. Thomas was approaching manic just trying to stay awake. I’ve seen Amelia bounce her baby brother the same exact way in this swing but she prefers to be the bouncer. “I want to do what I want to do,” repeated Thomas. My best attempt at peacemaking came from the One who is Peace.
“None of you should look out just for your own good.
Each of you should also look out for the good of others.
As you deal with one another, you should think and act as Jesus did.”
Philippians 2:4-5 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/php.2.4-5.NIRV
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.
This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 7:12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.7.12.NLT
After I talked through the verses with them, I asked, “Are you done swinging?” “No!” came their unanimous reply. “You’re in the same swing. You’re both a little sleepy but you were swinging together so nicely before. Thomas, Amelia asked you not to bounce anymore please. If swinging is making you sleepy, you’re welcomed to get out and play something else.” In the end, Thomas wanted to be with Amelia more than he wanted to have his own way. The next moment, the frenzy was joyous and Lolly was sneaking kisses and tickling toes as the swings flew back and forth.
I related this story to my husband later and a thought crossed my mind- the Holy Spirit kind that brings conviction and calls for a teachable spirit. My husband and I are yoked together in marriage, our community, our nation, and our world occupies common ground, and the Church exists in the world, though not of it. We are in the same swing, figuratively speaking. The earth turns on its axis, kept in motion by the God of the universe. We experience all sorts of feelings on any given day, prompted largely by our moods or our schedules, but we cannot be ruled by something so circumstantial. We need the truth of God’s Word to guide us, to restrain us, and often to stretch us. We want what’s comfortable. We want to do what we want to do, like Thomas, but Jesus said we must lay all that aside and follow Him. We must want to be with Him more than we want to have our own way.
“Then he said to the crowd,
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.
But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”
Luke 9:23-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.9.23-25.NLT
For Jesus, this was no theoretical laying down. He meant unconditional surrender to God the Father, the same level of submission exhibited daily by stars and planets, skies and seas, the same level of surrender He would embrace on the cross. (Luke 9:22) The heavens declare the glory of God. Sure the elements rock and roar, seemingly out of control, but scripture foretold this, describing it as birth pains.
“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
Romans 8:22 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.22.NLT
“For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse.
But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”
Romans 8:19-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.20-21.NLT
“And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.
We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
We were given this hope when we were saved.
(If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.
But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)”
Romans 8:23-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.23-25.NLT
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
Romans 8:18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.18.NLT
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for.
But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Romans 8:26-28 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.26-28.NLT
Maybe we’ve settled down in our exile like those Israelites who never returned from Babylon even though they had been set free. Maybe we’re too comfortable with waiting to remember that this world is not our home. We’ve forgotten there’s something better ahead. We have either stopped thinking of God’s promise of a new heaven and a new earth and bought into the lie that this is all there is or we’re ignorant of God’s Word and His promises, forgetful or unmindful of our identity in Christ. Some of us have been in the waiting room our entire lives. Anyone born since Jesus’s resurrection and ascension walks by faith and not sight while we await the long promised return of the King. He may return in my lifetime but that is not the point.
Jesus told stories about waiting expectantly for His return. His parables of the ten virgins and the three servants, both in Matthew 25, teach different aspects of waiting well. The characters in Jesus’s stories who made the most of what they had are commended and rewarded. They are referred to as servants or slaves. There is no self exaltation in God’s kingdom. God is the Master, the King, and the Homeowner. All that exists belongs to Him. We are stewards entrusted with who and what He chooses to place under our care and keeping. Our faithfulness matters so much more than our impact.
““A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.”
Matthew 24:45 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.24.45.NLT
“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”
Luke 12:48 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.12.48.NLT
What I want to do is irrelevant. The question I need to be asking is what does Jesus expect me to do with this new day to which I’ve awakened. How would He have me use this bonus I’ve earned or this home I’ve built or this degree I’ve attained. How can my marriage reflect His faithfulness? How do I reflect His love to my children? Ask yourself, what do you have that God hasn’t given to you? (I Corinthians 4:7)
“After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked,
“Do you understand what I was doing?
You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am.
And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.
I have given you an example to follow.
Do as I have done to you.
I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master.
Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.
Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”
John 13:12-17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.13.15-16.NLT
““Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast.
Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.
The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded.
I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!
He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn.
But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.”
Luke 12:35-38 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.12.35-38.NLT
“I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!””
Mark 13:37 NLT
A Fitting Reply 