“I want another baby.”
My boss’s wife, Cindy adored their soon-to-be-teen daughter and son, but longed for a wee one to nurture. For months, Lance resisted her pleas. “Cindy, we have the perfect family: a boy and a girl. Let’s be content with that. Besides, I’ll be forty in a year. I don’t want people thinking I’m my kid’s grandfather at her high school graduation.”
Cindy was undaunted. Bit by “the baby bug,” she persisted in her heart’s desire for one more child.
Finally, Lance concocted a plan he was sure would discourage her. “All right, we can try one last time. But it must be a girl, she must be born before my fortieth birthday, and you need to have her on a Saturday, so I don’t have to take off work to go to the hospital with you.”
“Agreed,” said Cindy, humming to herself as she thumbed through a
Babies R Us catalog.
Nine months later, Lance jolted awake when a finger gouged him in the rib. “Are you ready to go have this baby?” said Cindy. That afternoon, Tiffany June made her appearance. It was a Saturday, December 12, two days before Lance’s fortieth birthday.
When Lance related this story to me, I asked him if Cindy had prayed that he agree to another baby, or about the timing of Tiffany’s birth. “Not that I know of,” he said.
What? This really messes with my theology. I want people to have exactly what they want, when they want it, only if they have asked God for it. I certainly don’t believe luck had anything to do with Tiffany’s birth, so that leaves only one other answer: God did this as a favor to Lance and Cindy, simply because He loves them and wanted to bless them. Period.
Why does this bother me? Because I want my teeter-totter balanced. If I obey the Lord and honor Him with my life, I can expect Him to answer outrageous prayers like a girl baby born on a certain day before her daddy’s 40th birthday. But if someone who wants something a specific way gets it without even asking God, what does that tell me?
Not what you might think. Not that it doesn’t pay to serve God, or that we shouldn’t pray for what we want and need, but simply this: God is God—He can do whatever He wants. And I believe it tickled Him to give Lance and Cindy exactly what they wanted, because He likes to make people happy. He is a good God who does good things for everyone, not only those who ask.
Here’s a final thought: If God gave someone the desire of their heart when they didn’t even ask Him, how much more would He give someone who comes boldly to His throne and makes their requests known? Kinda makes you want to expect a lot more out of Him, doesn’t it?
*photos by flikr
