Lights On, Lights Off

Joel is infatuated with light switches right now.  Every time we pass by some light switches he wants to stop and play with them to see what they do.  I can understand the sense of instant gratification he must feel when flipping a switch immediately changes the environment around him, such as turning a light on and off, on and off, on and off…

Sometimes he experiments with pushing the switches side to side, which obviously doesn’t work, but either he is just testing this concept for consistency, or perhaps he thinks that light switches should logically switch in multiple directions.  That could be interesting…

But I can also understand the frustration he shows when he flips a switch and nothing happens, or nothing seems to happen.  Some switches are wired to outlets with nothing connected, or outdoor lighting but it’s bright outside.  It’s hot now so we’ve been running our fans.  Turning a fan off has no noticeable effect unless you’re willing to wait for the result.  Joel is used to instant results like he gets with the light switch.  Try as I might, I’ve been unable to explain to him or relieve any of his frustration that those switches DO work, they are effective, he just doesn’t understand their purpose, doesn’t have the patience to wait and see, and doesn’t have knowledge of the laws of inertia.

God is so good.  Despite being witness to and experiencing the benefit of numerous miracles in my life, I confess that sometimes I struggle with faith in the effectivity of prayer.  I was confessing this to God earlier this week, sort of an, “I believe, help me in my unbelief” moment.  This week I spent more time with Joel than normal while Becca was sick, so this is really the first week that I’ve noticed Joel’s obsession with switches.  As Joel was playing with the switches and showing his frustration, God totally spoke to me in that moment.

God was basically telling me that our (my) attitude towards prayer is often times much like Joel’s love/hate relationship with switches.  We’re excited when we see an immediate response, but we question and grumble when the response is not immediately apparent.  Just be cause we don’t understand God’s greater plan doesn’t mean that prayer is ineffective.

Lord, thank you for speaking to me yet again through my children.  Thank you that you are patient with our grumbles and unbelief.  Thank you that you are the good, good Father who loves us and holds us high enough to “play with the switches” through prayer.  Lord thank you for revealing yourself to us, and I ask that you would reveal more and more of the mysteries of the ages to us (1 Cor 2:7,10) as we are able to receive them.  Prepare our hearts, grant us wisdom and faith.  We love you because you first loved us.  Amen.