misinformation

FROM "A LESSON LEARNED"
Recently, early on a Saturday morning, Brandon and I were still in bed. We were awake but just doing our best to hold onto every last second we could just lay there before we absolutely had to get up! The boys were already awake, of course, and in the office playing the Wii. I could hear them playing and knew that my moments of peace were almost over because the boys were beginning to bicker and argue over their game. They couldn't choose one game they both agreed on to play and then when they finally did they fought over who would be player one and who got to go first, etc. It wasn't long before Ashtyn was in our room sobbing! His crying seemed a little exaggerated for the situation but I did my best to talk him through it and understand what he was feeling. After a few minutes of trying to talk through the tears and us not really understanding what he was so upset about we were finally able to get Ash to tell us that he was so upset because Maddox had told him that "he was going to play by himself and Ash wasn't going to get a turn!" As you can tell, this devastated Ash and he took what Maddox had told him as truth and was looking to mom and dad for a resolution. Brandon sat up and asked Ashtyn a simple question. "Who is in charge?" At first, Ashtyn just began retelling his sob story about how Maddox wasn't being fair and had taken over the video game. Brandon simply asked again "Who is in charge?" Ashtyn finally began calming down, his sobs shortening and his breathing returning to normal. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Brandon, "You." he finally said. Brandon went on to reassure Ashtyn that Maddox could say anything he wanted but none of it was going to happen because daddy is in charge and whatever DADDY says goes! As soon as Ashtyn walked out of the room God spoke softely to my heart.
Lesson Learned? Ashtyn freaked out when Maddox gave him the bad news that he wasn't going to get a turn on the Wii. HE...FREAKED...OUT!!! He expended all of that energy, all those tears and all that fear and anxiety over nothing but words! Words! They held no power, no weight and no consequnce. All that mattered were the words of his dad. Unfortunately, Ashtyn let a 4-year-olds words outweigh his dad's words. The boss's words. Just like Ash, we all (me included...big time!) allow the ignorant words of strangers to weigh heavily on our hearts and minds when the words of our Father tell us differently. And our Father's words have never given us reason to doubt! Daddy always does what he says he's going to do! When dad says "I'll catch you"...he does! When dad says "I'll feed you"...he does! When dad says "I'll be there for you"...he is! Dad has never failed you, so why does his voice get lost in the crowd? For Ashtyn, on that Saturday morning, Maddox's voice was very loud! Maddox sounded like he meant business and he was practically yelling. So often the voices of this world, telling us lies and making us fearful, are so loud that we lose focus on the one voice that matters. We get distracted. Our anxiety rises and we begin to cry. We freak out and run to our Heavenly Father with tears streaming down our face. We urge him to tell us why this is happening. We pour our hearts out in anguish wanting God to feel sorry for us and give us the answer. The only problem? God is sitting there whispering "Who is in charge?" we just can't hear him above the world and above our own complaints. You have to calm down. You have to stop sobbing. You have to take a breath and listen. The loud words and lies that you are allowing to get you so worked up and live in fear mean nothing! Nothing! Walk away. Remind yourself of the words of your Father. Remind yourself that your Father has never EVER let you down or given you one reason to doubt. Tune out the voices that don't matter and tune in the one voice that does! You are wasting your energy and anxiety on things that are never going to happen! If you feel frantic and upset and find yourself running to God a mess time and time again look back and ask yourself...who am I listening to and who is really in charge?