“I don’t have enough!” my son told the cashier between sobs. He looked up at me and repeated
the words: “I don’t have enough money, Daddy! What am I gonna do?!”
He had his heart set on a certain Nerf gun. He had patiently waited until after Christmas to spend the money he had gotten from our family. Now it was January, and he stood there in line: with cash and department store gift card in his little trembling hands; with the painful realization washing over him that he might actually have to leave the store without his beloved Christmas toy!
To say he was devastated was an understatement.
He was so close, too. He hadn’t thought about the taxes for his purchase; it was just a few dollars, but he simply didn’t have enough, so he had to say “goodbye” to his toy and his joy.
Of course not!
Being the loving, gracious, and kind father that I am, I couldn’t just let my son leave the store without his toy; so I did what any father who loves their child would do: I paid the difference.
You should have seen the look on his face when the smiling cashier handed him the bag with his toy. He immediately began jumping for joy, and my heart was filled to overflowing!
I tell you this story to remind you that God is ready, willing, and able to help us to be perfect. Jesus, teaching His disciples about how to be effective at prayer, told a story about another father and compared it to what God, as our Heavenly Father, would do for us, if we but ask Him:
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7: 7-11, NLT).
In this life, it’s true that we each have to do our part; we have to do as much as we can with all that we have. But the sad reality is that we will all ultimately reach our end, and when we reach our end, that’s when God begins!
The Apostle Paul puts it like this:
“God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6, CEV).
So in the trials and joys of life, do your part, but never forget that God, your Daddy, knows you; He loves you; and will take care of the rest!
So you—you can rest! If you’re tired of trying to do it all yourself, let Jesus do it for you; after all, Jesus pleads:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT).
