Bird is a little question man. He’s very curious and likes
to know what’s going on at all times. He incessantly asks questions, like:
Whas tat called?
Whas he doing?
Where did he go?
Whatchu doing that
for?
Sometimes his questions stump me. For example, the other day
we were talking about God making the ocean. Bird said, “Tank you, God for the
ocean!” He then turned to me and asked, “Momma, where did God go?” Now that's a deep thought for a 2-year old! How do you answer that one?
One day, after enduring an especially long stint of verbal abuse in the form of Bird's incessant
questioning, I told Bird that I was imposing a question quota for each day.
"You now have a question quota, and today you've reached your limit," I explained.
His response: “Momma, whas
question quota?”
Go figure.
Honestly there are many days when I tire of hearing my name
called out and wish I could enforce the “question quota” limit or hit MUTE on
Bird’s volume button, but I sure am glad God doesn’t do that to me. In fact,
Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should call out to
God in persistence, never giving up.
Luke 18:1-8
1 One
day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant
prayer and to show them that they must never give up. 2 "There was a judge in
a certain city," he said, "who was a godless man with great contempt
for everyone. 3 A
widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against
someone who had harmed her. 4 The
judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out. 'I fear neither
God nor man,' he said to himself, 5 'but
this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because
she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'" 6 Then the Lord said,
"Learn a lesson from this evil judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end, so don't
you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him
day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But
when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?"
The
Bible says the widow approached the judge repeatedly
and finally wore him out! The judge
even said, “This woman is driving me
crazy!” Boy does THAT sound
familiar! Even though the judge viewed this woman as a pest, Jesus hailed her
persistence as heroic. It makes me think that maybe on those days when my
patience is wearing thin and Bird’s questions are spewing forth at machine-gun
speed, I should turn to God and beg him for grace and compassion. Beg him
persistently. He promises to hear and answer me! And maybe I should even start
begging before my day (and Bird’s questions) begins! It never hurts to get a
head start.
