We took our kids to interesting places, especially when they were quite young, and had a problem in many of those venues. I was reminded of this when we accompanied our grandkids on a trip to a science adventure museum. We enjoyed watching them explore new and different things, but the same difficulty manifested itself.
We would enter the facility and they kids would immediately gravitate to the first attraction or display and begin to explore it. After a few minutes, we would gently urge them on to the next place. But they were having such a good time that they resisted. But we knew that there were more interesting and exciting things farther on.
After they glimpsed the “new” interest, they immediately fastened on that. Again, we had to move them on to the next place. This continued until we reached the end of the display. Ironically, the final one was a slide from the second floor down to the first. They were a little reluctant to go the first time, then enthusiastically raced back up the stairs to repeat it. They, and a large group of the other guests, circulated from first floor to the second, slide down to first, back up to the second, and repeat. I lost track of how many times they repeated this cycle.
As I was watching, my eye roved over the rest of the museum. The formerly exciting and enticing displays were now completely neglected. They were still interesting, and informative, but another attraction had captured their fancy.
That revelation was reinforced to me as I considered the situation as some of our family was being “moved” from one place to another. They loved the first place they were, and resisted moving. I have a strong premonition that once a new venue is unveiled, they will, like the museum goers, forget the old one, in comparison to the excitement of the new.
Our Loving Heavenly Father sometimes urges us on to a “new place” so that He can reveal more and deeper enjoyment than we currently experience. He does not move us out of spite or to punish us, but to enhance our enjoyment of Him. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with the statement that man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. A lot of times, our enjoyment must be stimulated by moving to another level.
The final book of C. S Lewis’ Narnia series has his heroes entering the hereafter that we consider heaven. The first level is exciting and engaging. They begin to settle down to enjoy it. But Aslan, the Lion, is constantly urging them to leave that and go “higher up and farther in.” The concept of the story is that this continual improvement will continue forever. In 1 Corinthians 2:9, Paul said that, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
God has a plan for us that will never cease to amaze and reward us. We can see some of that “down here” before we get to heaven. So when we feel the loving nudge from a loving Father, we should not resist, but embrace the change and enjoy the “trip” to His next marvel.
We move our kids to the next item, and even though it may not be a blockbuster, it is new and enticing to them. Wise parents do not just let them camp on one experience when there are other options that we know will also enthrall them. Our Father is way ahead of us in Parenting U. Trust Him.
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