Life's Owies

Ever been mad at God? Ever blame him for something that happened in your life – or something you are going thru right now?

This summer my five year-old grandson was playing near an apple tree on our property when he got stung by a yellow jacket. As I dried his tears and put ointment on his sting, he looked up through tear-filled eyes and stated quite firmly, “Grandma, I am so mad at God right now!” I suppressed an urge to laugh and asked why he was mad at God.

“I’m mad at him because he made bees and I got stung. He should have made them without the stingers,”

“Do you remember what you were doing when you got stung?” I asked.

“Sure. I was hitting a bunch of bees in a hole in the tree with a stick.”

“Well that’s why you got stung,” I told him. “You threatened the bees and they were defending their home.”

He thought about this for a minute then said, “Well I still don’t understand why God made something that hurts so much. They aren’t much good for anything.”

“Do you know where honey comes from?” I asked.

As I explained the honey-making process, his eyes widened and a big smile lit up his face. “Wow Grandma! God really does know what he’s doing even when we get owies.”

From the mouth of babes - what my grandson learned that day was that things aren’t always as they seem. Sometimes the owies of life are God’s way of moving us to a better understanding of who he is and what his purpose is for each of us.

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