Tempertantrums

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.   II Peter 1:3

We all want grace - unmerited favor.  We want not only to be accepted by God, but by our family, our peers and the world in general.  We also want peace - not simply peace in the world, though it would be nice (we think), but peace in our spirits, rather than this restlessness that comes against us and makes us worry, pace, continuously have to think...We just want to be able to rest a while.
The answer is right in front of our noses.  Grace and peace can be ours in abundance.  We simply need to get to know - really know - God the Father and Jesus our Lord.  We need to spend time in Bible study and communication with Him.  We hear this over and over, but most of the time we are hearers who fail to do.
We also want to have everything, but have to do nothing to get it.  While newborns we expected to be fed, clothed, kept warm, protected and we were.  We sometimes had to cry or at least fuss a little to get things taken care of, but that was it.  As we grew we expected things to remain the same, but suddenly we were told "you can do it," and though part of us wanted to do it, part of us still wanted that coddling.  We soon discovered that when we accomplished a task, we were rewarded with that hug, kiss and praise that we loved receiving, so we did it again.  But then one day came when it was simply expected of us to do things on our own - and we didn't like it!!  "Clean my room?  You won't help me anymore?  I have to pick out my own clothes and dress myself?  A few days ago you praised me for turning the TV on and off and now you're telling me to stop it?"  And the tantrums started.  We think we outgrew those years, but we are actually still in them.
When we don't get "our way" it's God's fault.  It doesn't matter if He is protecting us from future pain, financial despair, hurting someone else or ourselves, etc.  We want what we want and if we cannot have it, God is to blame!!  We have a choice at this point - continue trusting and believing and growing in Him, or turning our backs on Him and saying He must not exist.  We believe this will  change everything.  If He doesn't exist, then I can have my own way.
What if we said that the government doesn't exist too.  We don't like the way they run things at times, so we choose to believe they are non-existent.  However, if we try to do things our own way and it goes against theirs, we are thrown in jail or worse.  We accept this, because they must exist after all.  However, if God dares to discipline us we become angrier still, stick our chins out, pout, throw temper tantrums and try to get the rest of the world on our side by removing things like - prayer in school, nativities from yards, monuments with Ten Commandments, "In God We Trust" from monies, etc.  We call those who do believe "haters" because they disagree with us.  And the list goes on.
When I read verses such as the one above, I am amazed at how blind we can be. We can have grace and peace in abundance.  It isn't even difficult to have it.  We just need to make a new Friend (Jesus), really get to know Him, spend time doing so and voila'!
I know this is true - God's Word never fails, but we do.  We read the promises, but shove aside what needs to be done to make them active in our lives.  We read, but we do not truly comprehend.