Heart Wrenching Screams & Other Things That Are Good For Us

Today I took my 4 month old son to the doctor's office for his 4 month checkup and his shots. Everything was going fine.  He was a little fussy, but we weighed (14lbs. 6oz.) and measured (26in.)  him.  They looked in his ears, nose, and mouth and he was fine.  The doctor checked his tummy that checked out and then the doctor left the room and a nurse entered with a silver platter of needles.  All the vaccinations are necessary and all of them are good for him, but as she started to go rapid fire with the needles, the shriek of our precious 4 month old baby boy could be heard by my maternal grandparents (both passed away and in Heaven).  I don't know much about the mental development of infants, but I felt as though he was saying, "you tricked me!"  My eyes began to well up with tears at the scream of my boy, the pain he was in, the shock to his system.  I almost wanted to stop it, but it was good for him.  

I imagine that is much the same with our Heavenly Father.  He will put us through, what at the time, seems like excruciating circumstances.  We scream and we cry and we wonder why things happen.  We beg for answers and sometimes God is silent as to why.  We are left with a promise in 1 Corinthians 10.13 - that we will not be tempted beyond what we are able to endure.  In the midst of what seems like a lonely fire He stands there watching, knowing it is good, but paining him just the same to see his children in pain.  

Christ does not offer us the pleasure of knowing Him without the pain that goes along with it.  He does not want bratty children who were not denied anything.  He does not want children who aren't healthy because they have not had their shots.  He wants his children complete and growing.  Pain is hard, but pain brings strength.  

Watching my son get his shots was painful, but knowing that he will be vaccinated against disease helps me endure it.  

Till Next Time "I guess, all things considered, I was lucky Dwight was there. And Roy was lucky that Dwight only used pepper spray, and not the nunchucks or the throwing stars"