Salty

Series: Always Relevant: God is

Proverbs 29:11 RSV

James 5:1-5 MSG

Sometimes I need to remember not to be salty. 

That’s because I can be pretty salty. You can ask my kids. They can even tell you stories. 

Most of the stories come from a discussion we had when they were a little older and they thought they were old enough to make a decision to do something that was not advisable. 

My three sons all had a completely different approach when they came to me to discuss their plan. 

My oldest son got right to the point. He made a case with logical arguments. He was a man of few words. 

I would think about his plan and if some part of it had merit I would agree to let him do that part. He usually countered with a proposal. Most of the time that didn’t matter, but he made a good effort. 

My middle son didn’t argue. He took a different approach. He knew…he always knew how to make me laugh. 

So, he usually started out with a funny story that got me in a good mood. 

We would banter back and forth. 

Then he would “slip in” quietly with a side-bar comment about something he was planning to do. 

Sometimes that worked and I didn’t get annoyed. 

I still might have said no.

My youngest son was pretty direct as well, but if I said no he would get upset and argue. At that point I was usually close to losing my temper. Once he wanted to go play with his friends who lived in our neighborhood. I asked him where they were going specifically. 

He said they were going for a walk so I asked where to? He said they didn’t know where or when but it would be okay.

We went back and forth and I ended up saying he couldn’t go. He was pretty upset because the other parents said yes. 

At that point he was upset and I was agitated. I stopped and I prayed about it. 

I said no. After he stomped out I felt bad but I also felt like I made the right decision. 

About five hours later I heard from a neighbor that the boys vandalized an abandoned home. That wasn’t the worst part. 

The home was owned by a Federal Judge. 

The boys had to face the judge and the sheriff. They had to pay for the damages. 

Thank you, God. Thank you for stopping me and reminding me I needed to pray about it. 

My son wasn’t upset anymore that I said no.

Here’s the funny part. 

That son has boys of his own now. I guarantee he would not let his sons go out with a group of boys when they didn’t know where they were going or what they were going to do. 

Proverbs 29:11 says, “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man quietly holds it back.”

I could easily have been a fool that day. 

I could easily have been really angry. What really happened is that I remembered how patient and reasonable my dad was with me. I remembered that my dad prayed about decisions. 

That’s the reason I stopped and prayed. I honestly didn’t know what to do that day, but I didn’t have a good feeling about the request. 

James 5:1-5 Says, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.”

I didn’t know why I had an uneasy feeling about the request that day but I did.

I’m really really grateful that I had a dad who was reasonable and prayed about everything.

He modeled a wise man who was patient. 

I wish I could say I was always patient and I didn’t fly off the handle but that isn’t true. I’m just really grateful that God reminded me that day about what my dad would do in the same situation. 

I was reminded instead of getting really angry I need to ask God for wisdom. In my opinion we dodged a bullet that day. My son learned a good lesson about why parents say no sometimes. 

I think he also learned to ask God for wisdom with his own sons.

Spiritual Practice: Ask

Ask God to give you wisdom today. It’s one of those sure thing prayers. 

In God, Deborah

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