Cheezel's Moment

It's funny how the simplest things can sometimes have the clearest meanings. I suppose that's part of the reason Jesus taught in parables. The every day moments can reflect some serious wisdom, even when you are not expecting it. This was one of those moments.

The girls were having an early shower one afternoon after they had been playing in the sandpit after school. I knew they were still hungry, and it had been a bit of a long week, heading back to school after the COVID-19 shutdown had kept them at home for the last five. So as a treat, I grabbed out a pack of cheezels and measured out a bowl for each of them (and Steve).

I wandered around munching on what was left in the pack myself and went to check their showering progress. Sometimes they are not the best bathroom buddies, can often get distracted by each other and forget the main purpose of being in the bathroom to begin with. As I entered the first thing they notice is the pack of cheezels.

"Cheezels! Yes! Can we have some?"

As I pop the last one in my mouth, I show them the now empty box. "These are all gone," I say.

"What!? You ate them all! NONE for us!! Not fair!! How could you?"

"Wait a minute," I reply. "Who am I? I'm your mum. And how do I feel about you?"

"You love us," Sophie replies.

"Yes I do. So do you think, I would eat all the cheezels, not leave you any, and that I would do it in front of you?"

"No..."

"Exactly. Have a little faith girls."

And as I said it, I knew it's what God says to us, again and again. So often we see someone else with something that we want, and we complain. Or we are given to dwelling on things we don't have. Or we are worried about not getting enough.

In Exodus 34 God says this about himself:

"The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin."

Compassionate and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness. Time and time again, the people of Israel choose not to trust, to forget this, to doubt that it might be true. So do we today. So do I.

Even as my girls doubted that I would love them enough to have provided cheezels for them, so I doubt that God might love me enough to make sure I'm provided for too. Not that my life will be roses and sunshine because of how God loves me, or that I will always get everything that I want, but I will absolutely get everything that I need because of his love for me.

So I'm thankful to these girls and their reaction to the cheezel moment that reminded me I also do the same. That I too need to learn and relearn to trust in God. That my first response shouldn't be doubt, but faith.