why fight it?

My seven month old daughter is sweet. She smiles at our friends (who think she never fusses). She has a wonderful laugh (which you may have heard on Facebook). But her behavior I want to tell you about today is fighting sleep. If you're a parent you've probably seen similar behavior.

Here's what she does. We lay her down for a nap. She might be quiet for a moment, but sometimes she immediately rolls to her stomach, does a push up and reaches for the crib (or is it prison?) bars. She will stand up and yell at us. We can lay her back down, but she may perform this maneuver repeatedly. The most interesting moments are when she has completely worn herself out and stands there crying (sometimes with pacifier in place and eyes closed). Sleep is the enemy and she wants the world to know it will not defeat her. She fights against the very thing she needs most.

When she gets a little older (like my 3 year old daughter) she will understand that a nap, though not the most exciting part of the afternoon, is sometimes necessary. And when she gets to be the age of her parents she may wish for napping opportunities.

It occurred to me that sometimes I behave toward God's will the way my daughter behaves toward naps. Perhaps you do as well. We as humans fight against the very thing we need most. As we get a little more mature we begin to understand that God's will is sometimes necessary. And I hope we reach the point where our deep wish is to embrace God's will. Rich Mullins wrote, "I'd rather fight you for something I don't really want than take what you give that I need." Let's be people who love God's will (and take naps when we need them, too).