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| Gid the warrior, still learning about life and its lessons |
I tried to help him understand how we sometimes sacrifice our comfort in order to show other people love and support. I even bribed him with getting a doughnut after the baptism -- knowing that he would be sad to miss it and trying to find an incentive that would speak louder than his bed. Nope. He wasn't having it.
I worried because I knew we had to be 15 minutes early as I was playing the piano for the service. Eventually I had to just leave him to his own devices and finish getting myself and Eli ready to go.
Just as we were about to walk out the door with no sign of Gid, he came upstairs and told us to wait. I was so sad to have to tell him we couldn't. We had to leave then or I wouldn't make it to play the prelude. Eli and I enjoyed the baptism and went out for a doughnut afterward.
Last night I heard the rest of the story that broke my heart. Gid climbed into my lap and started telling me that he had had a rough day. When I asked him why, he said it all started with us leaving him at home when we went to the baptism. He told me that when we walked out the door he prayed that we would come back and let him get dressed so he could come with us. Sigh.
I explained to him why I had to leave right then and told him that was why I had tried and tried to get him to wake up earlier. I also told him the parable of the ten virgins and helped him see that he was kind of the like the five virgins who weren't prepared to go into the wedding. They were sad too and wished that someone would come out and get them when they were finally prepared, but it was too late.
I started thinking about this again this morning, feeling so sad that Gid would think to pray, but that he would pray for something that God couldn't answer. I realized that it is important for all of us to understand that God is always there for us, but he won't undo the consequences of the choices we make. He knows that our best learning takes place when we have to suffer a bit for our mistakes. We can't make bad choices and then pray that we don't have to feel the pain of those choices.
Our works/actions are crucial to how well God can bless us. He wants to bless us! He wants to answer our prayers! But we can't pray for things that go against His law and the way agency works on the earth. We are most certainly saved by Christ's grace, but many of the blessings that happen in this life come from our works. Gid learned this in a hard way yesterday.
