Grandsons are a hoot! I, myself, am a cougar! And you are most likely confused! So, I’ll try to explain...
Two days ago, we had a man out to cut down several trees and trim numerous others. He came back today to grind the stumps. Now, it just so happened that my son, who lives next door, was off work today. So, recognizing that a man was here to grind stumps, he decided to alter his agenda and cut down a tree or two so as to get their respective stumps ground while the opportunity presented itself.
Thus it was that the two of us spent the bulk of the day cutting down and then sawing up unwanted trees. As we did, my wife babysat our two young grandsons, ages 4 and 2. Around 3:30 pm, the two of them awoke from their nap and came outside. As they did, they encountered a roaring fire down in the woods by the creek, where my son and I had spent several hours transporting four pick-up truck loads of cut-up tree branches, limbs, and logs.
However, with the fire blazing and well fed, it just so happened that I had stepped up to the driveway to meet the postal carrier, who had just arrived to deliver several packages. When I returned fifteen or twenty minutes later to the fire, I was immediately accosted by my two grandsons, who were then busy feeding the blazing fire, and accused by them of being a “Cougar”.
When I asked what they meant, I discovered that my wife (and their grandmother) had urged them to call me “Cougar”, because earlier in the day, she and they had watched the movie “Top Gun” wherein a character named “Cougar”, who was a pilot, had turned in his wings and quit the Air Force. In essence, they were accusing me of being a quitter!
Of course, I took the ribbing in good stride. From their perspective, my two grandsons had awakened from their nap, had consumed a snack, and had then dressed and come outside, ready to go to work. It mattered little to either of them that, while they had played, watched a movie, napped, and eaten, I had been busy slaving the day away cutting down multiple trees, sawing them up, loading them on the truck, and hauling them down to the fire.
Apparently, even after all this, after waking, snacking, coming outside, finding a roaring fire, and beginning to feed it with sticks and branches from a nearby pile, it never occurred to them to inquire who had piled up the sticks and branches and logs. Or, for that matter, who had built the fire in the first place!
Sadly, in all of this, I cannot help but see a parallel between my grandsons and me on the one hand and my Heavenly Father and me on the other.
After all, how many times have I lounged my way through life, “eating, drinking, and being merry”, all the while blissfully oblivious to what all my Heavenly Father has been busy doing behind the scenes on my behalf?!
Obviously, there will come a day when my grandsons grow and mature, and eventually recognize what all their grandfather and father have done on their behalf. It is enough for me this day to know that that day will one day come.
By the same token, I trust that it will be enough for my Heavenly Father that He knows that the day will come when I will finally see and appreciate all He has been busy doing on my behalf while I have lounged my way through this life.
In the Old Testament Book of Job, chapter 34, verse 20, we read: “We know God is working behind the scenes”. No matter what we face, no matter what we discover, no matter what we encounter, God is at work! He always has been, He is now, and He always will be!
The failure of my naïve little grandsons to recognize what all I had been doing behind the scenes can be understood and forgiven. But the failure of my own recognition of what all my Heavenly Father has been busy doing on my behalf behind the scenes is neither so understandable nor so forgivable.
It’s easy to see what is seen. It's not so easy to see what is unseen. But the latter often supersedes the former. The unseen
often surpasses the seen.
In light of this, may I forever be sensitive to what all God has and is doing in my interest and on my behalf “behind the scenes”.
And may the same be true for you!
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%2034%3A19-20&version=MSG.
Two days ago, we had a man out to cut down several trees and trim numerous others. He came back today to grind the stumps. Now, it just so happened that my son, who lives next door, was off work today. So, recognizing that a man was here to grind stumps, he decided to alter his agenda and cut down a tree or two so as to get their respective stumps ground while the opportunity presented itself.
Thus it was that the two of us spent the bulk of the day cutting down and then sawing up unwanted trees. As we did, my wife babysat our two young grandsons, ages 4 and 2. Around 3:30 pm, the two of them awoke from their nap and came outside. As they did, they encountered a roaring fire down in the woods by the creek, where my son and I had spent several hours transporting four pick-up truck loads of cut-up tree branches, limbs, and logs.
However, with the fire blazing and well fed, it just so happened that I had stepped up to the driveway to meet the postal carrier, who had just arrived to deliver several packages. When I returned fifteen or twenty minutes later to the fire, I was immediately accosted by my two grandsons, who were then busy feeding the blazing fire, and accused by them of being a “Cougar”.
When I asked what they meant, I discovered that my wife (and their grandmother) had urged them to call me “Cougar”, because earlier in the day, she and they had watched the movie “Top Gun” wherein a character named “Cougar”, who was a pilot, had turned in his wings and quit the Air Force. In essence, they were accusing me of being a quitter!
Of course, I took the ribbing in good stride. From their perspective, my two grandsons had awakened from their nap, had consumed a snack, and had then dressed and come outside, ready to go to work. It mattered little to either of them that, while they had played, watched a movie, napped, and eaten, I had been busy slaving the day away cutting down multiple trees, sawing them up, loading them on the truck, and hauling them down to the fire.
Apparently, even after all this, after waking, snacking, coming outside, finding a roaring fire, and beginning to feed it with sticks and branches from a nearby pile, it never occurred to them to inquire who had piled up the sticks and branches and logs. Or, for that matter, who had built the fire in the first place!
Sadly, in all of this, I cannot help but see a parallel between my grandsons and me on the one hand and my Heavenly Father and me on the other.
After all, how many times have I lounged my way through life, “eating, drinking, and being merry”, all the while blissfully oblivious to what all my Heavenly Father has been busy doing behind the scenes on my behalf?!
Obviously, there will come a day when my grandsons grow and mature, and eventually recognize what all their grandfather and father have done on their behalf. It is enough for me this day to know that that day will one day come.
By the same token, I trust that it will be enough for my Heavenly Father that He knows that the day will come when I will finally see and appreciate all He has been busy doing on my behalf while I have lounged my way through this life.
In the Old Testament Book of Job, chapter 34, verse 20, we read: “We know God is working behind the scenes”. No matter what we face, no matter what we discover, no matter what we encounter, God is at work! He always has been, He is now, and He always will be!
The failure of my naïve little grandsons to recognize what all I had been doing behind the scenes can be understood and forgiven. But the failure of my own recognition of what all my Heavenly Father has been busy doing on my behalf behind the scenes is neither so understandable nor so forgivable.
It’s easy to see what is seen. It's not so easy to see what is unseen. But the latter often supersedes the former. The unseen
often surpasses the seen.
In light of this, may I forever be sensitive to what all God has and is doing in my interest and on my behalf “behind the scenes”.
And may the same be true for you!
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%2034%3A19-20&version=MSG.