Little chubby fingers grabbed at the beautiful glass cover encasing the delicious angel food cake that had been tempting eager eyes throughout dinner. We all held our breath slightly as the little hands lifted the glass up and held it precariously over the floor. Right on cue the Father asked the small one to put the cover back and to wait patiently until the time was right. The boy complied but waited only a few seconds before reaching again. This time the Father’s voice was more stern and explained that due to the lack of patience on the boy’s part, there would now be more time to wait. The Father looked back at us and laughed. ”If he hadn’t gone in that second time, he’d be eating cake right now. But now the lesson must be learned. Now he’s gotta wait.”

All of a sudden it hit me. This is exactly how our Father in heaven trains me. He disciplines out of love, not anger. He might even laugh at my antics and see the humor in my lack of patience. The bible says that He delights in me. I had a picture of God looking at me with love and laughing while he shook his head and said, ”Well, now you’ve got to wait. You must learn to listen. You must learn that it’s My time. So now you must wait.”

How many times have I learned the lesson of waiting? It seems to be a lesson I need repeated over and over. Yet I had a clearer picture now. My Heavenly Father was not keeping anything from me. He was merely waiting for me to sit back down at the table and stop grabbing at what I thought was the solution. He was waiting for me to let Him and stop trying to fix things myself. He was waiting for me to be obedient. And He was doing this with a smile on his face. He was doing this in LOVE. So thankful to serve a God who loves me even when He’s teaching me a lesson.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11