So You've Tried God and It Didn't Work 5

Here comes another car, get out of the road...

Although not a tall person, I am taller than my kids. I live in a college town so there are always cars parked up and down my street. I also live in a family neighborhood so there are also kids who play on the street as well. The height of the cars parked in the street can often make it difficult for a driver to see the much smaller kids, or the kids to see them.

They may each be oblivious to the other but they still exist and one is about to affect the other drastically.

A car could in all reality come speeding through the neighborhood, and never even see those kids until it was too late.

I however, having the advantage of a bigger view  see far more than either the kids or the driver who is about to put them in mortal danger simply by poor judgment.

So let's picture this, the kids are playing, a car is battling toward them... what should I do?

Seeing both the kids and the mortal danger they were potentially in, I would without hesitation yell to them to get out of the street.

"Get out of the street, NOW!"

My own children, the children that knew me, would listen, without question, without hesitation they would obey, because they trust in me and my motivation.

They know me, and I know them. It is the benefit of relationship.

The driver would recklessly drive on, unaware of the havoc their actions are creating for others.

But it's not just my kids that live in the neighborhood. So let's say that kids that are not my kids are also out there.

If I yelled the same to them they may be prone to question both my motivation and reasoning, by virtue of my tone and their lack of familiarity with me.

We have no familiarity or relationship. They might not understand why it is this stranger is yelling at them...

"This is a public street. Stop yelling at us, we can play wherever we want and you can't stop us! You go away!"

They're right...
So I shrug my shoulders and say," You're right. My bad. Sorry about all the yelling. Carry on."

Of course not. As persistent as they may be about not taking action, I would be equally as persistent that they do. I see and understand what they simply can't.

So if time permitted I would again, in even stronger tone and wording, repeat the same warning.

"Get out of the street, NOW!"

Now they're mad. Who am I to tell them anything?

"It's none of your business where we play! You can't tell us what to do and we're not moving. What's your problem!?"

Bam...dead.

The point? Love isn't always lovely in appearance.

Love can actually  sound a lot like anger, for our own lack of perception, trust and understanding of the motivation and desperation behind the words.

If you can look beyond the wording of the messenger to the heart of the message, you may find that you are in a far different situation than you ever imagined.

Trust, it's what relationships are built on, as they grow so does trust, but trust comes first.