Don't be a flute player!

Last night my husband and I sat down to have dinner and we brought our son in the room to sit with us. He likes to sit with us wherever we are, even if it means that he is away from his toys. As we were having dinner, my son started to throw his arms and legs around and then laughed as soon as we looked at him. We laughed and continued our conversation. Then he began throwing his arms and legs around again and looked to see if we would laugh. I made the comment to my husband that, “our son is starting to learn something that it will take him several years to figure out and that is that just because you do the same thing, people will not always have the same response.” Everything in my sons world right now responds the same way every time he repeats an action except for my husband and me. When he pulls on a blanket, it comes nearer to him, when he shakes his toy keys, they make noise, but people do not always react the same way.

This morning I was reading Matthew 11 and my ignorant words from last night’s dinner table came back to me. In this chapter Jesus says “To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to each other: We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance; we sang a lament, but you didn’t mourn!” He is pointing out that this generation of people is acting as if God has to react the same way every time they perform an action. They are so caught up in this idea, that they cannot see what God is really doing because it is not what they were expecting.

It is true that my son is starting to learn that people will not always act the way we expect, but I do not think I have quite learned my lesson yet. There are times that I think God has to reward me because of what I am doing. God has to answer my prayers because I am fasting. God has to give me this or that because I have done this and that for Him. Even if it is a subtle rather than a pronounced feeling, the danger is that this distracts us from what God is actually doing in our lives. What miracles are we blinded to because we are so focused on God doing exactly what we expect Him to?

Lord, help me not to be blinded to Your work. Help me to be a part of your Kingdom. Help me not to come to you with all my expectations but to come with an openness to what You are doing. Amen.