Tuesday, August 09, 2005

What We Can Learn About God From Being Parents: “Because I Said So.”

My three year old daughter is well into the “why” stage; I tell her something and she wants a rationale. Most of her questions can be answered easily enough, but some things just can’t be explained. They are beyond her capacity to understand at this point in her development, even though they are very clear to me and even though they have real impact on her life.

The best I can do on those is “because I said so.” That doesn’t always satisfy her, or me, but we both have to live with it. Someone has to watch out for her, I’m the parent, so it’s up to me. We’ll both be happier when she is able to understand.

There’s no doubt a similar dynamic between God and us. We’re simply incapable of understanding some things that must be painfully obvious to Him. They’re beyond our grasp, even though they reach into the deepest parts of our lives. We too have to be satisfied with a divine, and sometimes silent, “because I said so.”



(Other images comparing our relationship with God with our relationship to our children can be found at What We Can Learn About God From Being Parents.
Images about trusting God amidst the unexpected/difficult/incomprehensible were posted November 7, and 15, 2004, and April 25, July 11b, and August 9, 2005.)

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