The Father’s Good Pleasure
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. – Luke 12:32
A few years back, when my son was visiting from out of town, he asked if we could have a few friends over
for a barbeque. Since he had moved away he did not get to see his friends and family very often, and I thought seeing them again would be good for
him. Well, I got right to work and I planned a barbeque! I invited everyone I could think of that my son might want to see, and by the time our guests
arrived, there was hardly room to move! My son was so disappointed, and I at first I could not understand why. Yet, when I took time to really review
the situation, I realized that all he had wanted was a few friends. I had so wanted to please my son, but I had misunderstood his need. I thought that
giving him more than he had asked for would be better, but apparently that rule does not always apply.
Thinking about the relationship with our Heavenly Father, I saw some parallels with how I was feeling as a parent. As God’s children, we bring many needs
and requests to Him, and it is also His pleasure to make us happy. He knows and cares about both our spiritual and the temporal issues, and He wants
to answer our prayers, satisfy our hearts, and have fellowship with us. He is our Father and He loves to encourage us and lift our burdens, to relieve
our sorrows and pains. That is who He is.
However, there is a big difference between our parenting abilities and God’s. When we ask our Heavenly Father for something, He does not misunderstand!
In fact, He understands our needs even better than we do. He sees and knows everything, and He always gives us what we need. Even when He answers in
a way that we were not expecting, it is because His way is better than what we had in mind. Our first reaction to His supply may be, “What is this?”
but shortly we begin to understand that, “Hey, I needed that.”
What is the deepest desire of your heart? What do you believe would help your life the most right now? God is waiting for us to step forward and ask. Our
Heavenly Father wants to do what would truly be the best for each of us. It would be His good pleasure.