CoffeeTime: “I’LL EAT WHAT I WANT!”

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Ten-year-old Billy and his dad were going to eat at Billy’s favorite buffet-style restaurant. It was the boy’s birthday, and Dad had indulgently told him that he could have anything he wanted, as much as he wanted.

Big mistake.

Billy grabbed a plate and headed straight for the prime rib, steaks, roasts, and seafood bar. Without even a side glance at all the salads, vegetables, and fruits. As he began piling his plate with meats only, his dad stopped him with a warning. “Son, you don’t want to do that. If you eat all that meat, you’re gonna have a beauty of a stomach ache later. You need to have a few vegetables on there.”

Confidently, Billy replied, “Nah, I’m good,” and continued building the second layer of his ‘Ode To The Love Of Meat’ on his plate. When he finally reached the dessert bar, he reached for a second large plate and proceeded to load it with every kind of chocolate dessert available. This time Dad spoke firmly, “Absolutely not, Billy! If you ate all that, you would be terribly sick tonight.”

Glancing briefly at his dad, Billy’s voice took on an arrogant tone, “You said I could have whatever I wanted to eat, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!”

Dad was now faced with difficult choices. Indulge a short-sighted birthday promise he had made that would definitely have consequences, or stick to his guns and enforce what he knew was best for his son. Let Billy indulge to his heart’s content and learn an important lesson in life about self-control, or stop the idiocy beforehand.

The life lesson in over-eating won out. Shaking his head, Dad sighed and told Billy, “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t try to warn you, son.”

Can you imagine yourself as Billy, and your Creator as the father who loves to indulge you…but only to a point. That point being when you insist on being really stupid.  For example, when you decide to buy a brand-new car with sky-high monthly payments.

When you leave your marriage because you’ve become infatuated with a co-worker. Or when you decide to quit your job, ignore your debts, and take a few years to just indulge your love of travel.

How does He make the difficult choices between letting you take the fun road, or forcing you to consider your ways and do some growing up? No doubt about it. With God, the fun road isn’t the first consideration. Helping you to learn to take the high road, that’s His focus. And God has perfect focus.

He never forces you to do His will, He will let you learn at your own pace and make your own mistakes. But trust me, He will be trying to teach you the life lessons you need.

And most of the time, it’s gonna hurt.