Gracious Reminding

Psalm 119:29

Remove the false way from me,

And graciously grant me Thy law.

I've really been working hard at not being too hard on Rabbit. I am much better than last year, but there is always room for improvement.

This morning during my Bible reading time, the verse above stood out. Interestingly, the two verses before it were already highlighted, but not this one.

The first part of the verse was like a prayer for myself - I want the false way removed from me. Then the psalmist asks God to grant him His law. But not shove it down his throat - give it to him graciously.

I think of dealing with my kids, and I'm not often gracious. I get on their case, I even sometimes yell. Occasionally, God grants me graciousness, but I know it must come from Him, because it isn't in me at all. And it gets old, telling them over and over and over:

"Start a new sentence with a capital letter."

"Please turn out the light in your room."

"Pick up your toys in this path, or Mommy is going to get hurt!"

"Three times seven is twenty-one, not twenty-four."

And we grow weary saying the same things. But, in Philippians 3:1b it says, "To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you." If it is no trouble for Paul, and no trouble for God, to remind me again and again of my character faults and places that I need to improve, then it should be no trouble for me to remind my children over and over.

I get frustrated with having to remind them, but I shouldn't. That means my expectations are way out of whack. That means I expect them to remember and comply every time from that point onward. But, can I even do that? How many times have I read through the Bible? How many verses have I memorized that tell me of God's love for me, and yet I doubt?

So, don't grow weary. It is no trouble to say the same things again and again - it is a safeguard for them. I just need to learn to do it graciously.