every good and perfect gift ...

this week at work, they changed up all of our schedules ... again. i know how hard it has been for everyone on our team to deal with so many changes. no matter how flexible someone might be, people are creatures of habit, to at least some degree. children with special needs are even more dependent on the consistency of their schedules, and i can’t even begin to imagine how hard it is for them to deal with so much unpredictability.

the argument has been made that it’s not good for them to get too dependent on any one person. that makes sense, until you consider that we don’t do that for adults or students who don’t have disabilities. that would be like saying, ‘we don’t want the kids in the mainstream classrooms to get too dependent on their teachers, so we’re going to give them a new one every quarter.‘ or that would be like saying, ‘we don’t want the employees to get too comfortable in their position, so we’re going to move them to a new department every few months.’ we would never do that. so why do we think it’s a good idea to do that to children whose success depends upon it?

and why do we think that God would do that to us?

when things are going good, we talk about waiting for the other shoe to drop. we assume that God is up there thinking, “she’s been too happy for too long. i’m going to send some challenges her way just to throw her off.” parents ultimately want their children to be happy and successful. and while God’s definition of good might be different from ours, if earthly parents don’t deliberately put their children through trials, then why would God do that to us?

“which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? if you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (matthew 7:9-11)

but i’ve been so guilty of this mentality.

that’s not to say that life will always be a walk in the park. hard times are a natural result of living in a fallen world, and God will use them to make us stronger and draw us closer to Him. that’s also not to say that He will let us get stuck in complacency, but i don’t believe that He will make our lives difficult just because things are going too good for too long.

“for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (jeremiah 29:11)

He is a good God, and my hope and future lie in knowing that God does not send difficulties.

every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (james 1:17)