We sat around the table Saturday morning. Each of us in turn shared those things for which he coveted prayer. Each time, one of the men gathered there would lift up a prayer addressing those needs.
It is awesome and inspiring, but at the same time humbling, to hear your name mentioned in prayer and your needs brought before the LORD by a beloved Christian brother or sister.
One gentleman spoke of his seeming inability to offer guidance to or witness to his adult children. Not that he didn't try, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears.
This is a common experience and it requires much wisdom to know when our words of wisdom, though perhaps needed, are not desired. And when to speak anyway.
My own father was a wise man, a student of human nature. Yet there came a time when, to my own shame as I look back, I indicated my disinclination to hear his counsel.
He desisted but continued to love me and desire (and certainly pray for) my good.
It is common to men, I think, this temptation to "be the daddy." To be the boss, on the simplest level. To be the source of wisdom. Whose advice should be received gratefully and followed faithfully.
Perhaps doctors aren't the only people subject to a "god complex."
Father, forgive me.
Still we feel as though we have lost the power to intervene for the good in the lives of those we love.
It may be that we have abdicated this role at some earlier time. Perhaps we overstayed our welcome, seeking to impose our will when a gentle guiding hand was what was needed.
This may be.
But God has declared that nothing is impossible with Him. And so I pray.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment