Trusting God vs. using Him as a Scapegoat

As a Christian, you know it's important to trust in God. As a human, you know it can be hard to do sometimes.

We've all heard, "Just give it up and let God handle it." This is true, to a point.

What do I mean?

Let's say one day you decide, "You know what, I'm sick and tired of grocery shopping." To handle this you say, "I'm just going to give it to God. If He wants me to eat, He will put food in my hands so that I never have to grocery shop again. If I die of starvation, well then, that was just God's will."

OK, good luck with that.

You see God CAN do that, He can put food into your hands. He can perform any miracle. That doesn't mean He's going to or that He wants you to give up or be lazy. It doesn't mean you can use Him as a scapegoat to keep you from having to perform difficult tasks, make tough decisions or just do something you don't want to do.

God wants you to put forth some effort. I mean laziness is one of the seven deadly sins. The Bible is full of verses about how important it is to work hard and not be lazy. Just look at Proverbs: "The soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich." (13:4). Oh, and the book of James speaks on it too. Christians are not saved by works, but they do show their faith by their works (James 2:18, 26).

Another example: Say you decide you just don't want to pay your bills anymore. You've decided you could do a lot of useful things with your money, other than pay bills. Besides, it's just not fun. You decide that if you end up in jail, then it's just God's will.

Again, I say "Good luck with that." I'll be sure to check in on you in a year from now when the IRS is knocking at your door, along with a deputy.

Oh, and by the way, I'm pretty sure God doesn't want you to starve to death or to end up in jail when you are perfectly capable of grocery shopping and working to pay your bills.

Of course these examples are extreme, but I have seen people with a very similar mindset. People that think when there is something going on that is difficult, they should just give up. If that means they don't eat or they go to jail or they lose their home, well then that was just God's will.

Bologna.

God doesn't want you to suffer. He says so.

It is important to trust in God. It is also important to do your best and keep the faith. Don't back away from difficult tasks, don't use God as your excuse to fail. He wants you to succeed. He wants to make you stronger. Sometimes, that means doing things we don't want to do and trusting Him while we do them.

In the end, as long as you trust in Him, keep that faith and do your best, everything will be just fine! I am NOT in anyway saying don't trust God with your difficult tasks. You should trust God with ALL things, but also trust that God can give YOU the ability to handle it.

A Birthday Letter to my Youngest Son

Caleb,

I can’t believe that you are one. Happy Birthday my precious little one. You are truly a joy, a blessing from above. The past year has been the fastest of my life. I am in awe.

Of course, that may be because you are the fastest baby I’ve ever seen! You must do everything your way and do it quickly. Even if it gives your parents a heart attack.

From the very beginning, I knew you were going to be more like a force of nature than a quiet little bundle of softness. Even though “they” say it’s not possible, I felt you move inside of me at 12 weeks. It wasn’t gas. Yes, my beautiful boy, you started moving and did NOT stop my ENTIRE pregnancy. Every single day, starting at 12 weeks you used my uterus as a trampoline. I tried to warn your Daddy that we were going to have our hands full.

Then, when you were born, you wanted to make sure to keep us on our toes. Your pulse kept dropping; you came out limp and blue, there was no crying. Daddy and I were terrified. But, after the nurses stimulated you, you let us know you had a voice! You haven’t stopped using it since.

And how can I forget the feedings? My poor baby, you developed such a horrible case of reflux. It would take an hour to feed you a bottle and it was like a wrestling match the whole time. When you were having 8 bottles a day, I would spend 8-9 hours JUST feeding you. Or, I should say, wrestling you. It was like being tortured every 3 hours, every single day. You also had to have the most expensive formula on the market. It’s the only thing that let you keep down at least half of your bottle. But, we made it through! Once you started on solids, things started getting easier. You always seem to want to move forward quickly. Once you tasted solid food, you weren’t too interested in the bottle anymore. By 5 months, you were using a sippy cup. By 10 months, you had no more bottle (except at bed time).

Yes, you flew past those early stages with lightening speed. You were sitting by 4 months, crawling by 5 and had taken your first step at 9 ½ months. By 11 months, you were walking. I was shocked. Your brother didn’t take his first steps until he was 13 months and walked at 14 months, so I thought I would have more time. But, you want to keep up with your big brother. You both love each other so much. It amazes me that you can play with a 5 year old and keep up with him!

You are, in every sense of the word, TOUGH. You are the very definition of a rough and tumble little boy. Remember the time you fell down the stairs? Yeah, probably not. Well, the door to the basement was shut, just not latched. You managed to pry it open with your fingers. I saw you open the door and as I ran from the sink to the steps, I grabbed your foot as you started your downward descent. Only, you slipped through my hands. You went face first down the entire staircase. Your brother and I were flipping out. We were terrified. You get to the bottom and within seconds, you are laughing. Not a scratch on you. I’m pretty sure you have a guardian angel and I’m thankful because son, I think you are going to need it.

Oh, and your vocabulary. I’m amazed at how many words you can speak and use properly. When you see someone, you say, “Hi!” When I sneeze you say, “Bless!” When you drop something or do something you know you shouldn’t, you say, “Uh Oh!” You can say Mama, Dada, Nic and about 10 other words at least and almost everyday you say something new.

Caleb Nathaniel. Your first name means “Faithful,” your middle name, “Gift of God.” That is what you truly are to us, my beautiful boy. You are our faithful gift of God. For more reasons than you could possibly know. This first year has been full of surprises, lessons, tears and laughter. You have made our family complete. We love you, our little monkey! Your smile really does light up a room, your laughter is contagious, your life a blessing. I can’t thank God enough for choosing me to be your Mama. I love you, my precious, precious child.

Mama

Caleb - Year 1 from Donna Cope Sams on Vimeo.

Dynamite - the Mom Version...

To the tune of Dynamite by Taio Cruz

I throw my hands up in the air sometime saying,

"NO! NO!

Baby let go!"

Your going to hurt yourself, your going to fall,

Baby NO-NO,

Baby let go!

'Cause you gonna drive me nuts

When you are up all night

I'm gonna blow my top

Like I'm dynamite.

'Cause I told you once

Now I told you twice

You can't climb up that

Now baby please don't cry

I know you like to move, move, move, move, move

But it's early in the morning only two, two, two, two

You need a new diaper? Yes you do, do, do, do

Now back to sleep please no more boo hoo, hoo, hoo

Ye, ye

'Cause it goes on and on and on

The whining goes on and on and on

I throw my hands up in the air sometime saying,

"NO! NO!

Baby let go!"

Your going to hurt yourself, your going to fall,

Baby NO-NO,

Baby let go!

'Cause you gonna drive me nuts

When you are up all night

I'm gonna blow my top

Like I'm dynamite.

It started to be about telling my son "No," because he's always climbing all over things and being told "No!" But it turned into a song about sleep deprivation. Not sure where that came from because both of my boys slept through the night very early. Anyhow, that's what came to me and I thought Mom's could have a laugh :-)

Hee! Hee! I know there is more to the song, but that's all I have time for....so far. Maybe I'll make a video, Mom's of the world will relate, it'll go viral and be on the Today Show :-) Stay tuned!