A Holy Temper Tantrum

Every night at dinner Eric and Erin delegate praying responsibilities to one (sometimes two) of their three sons. Generally the prayers are simple and thankful, and sometimes accompanied by a smirk on our faces because of something funny said during the prayer or something too theologically profound to be coming from a 4 year old.

A few weeks ago some argumentation commenced amongst the boys concerning who was going to get to pray that night. Generally when this happens all three boys are allowed a voice with the Divine, but this particular night Isaiah wasn’t paying attention when it came around to his turn. Then when we decided to go ahead and eat, without giving him his chance to pray, he got really upset. Face red and crying, he lamented in anger of his missed opportunity to pray. Somewhere in the back of my mind I said jokingly, “C’mon, Isaiah, don’t you know that even if you were allowed to pray at this point, your attitude isn’t right before God?”

Immediately upon thinking this I got convicted. No, not because it would be absurd to say such a thing to a three year old, but because I think I’ve been doing that exact thing. A number of months ago I applied for a ministry position that I was really excited about. I was just as qualified as the next guy, probably new the nuances of the job more than all the other applicants, and was just as passionate as the next guy. I thought that there was no good reason I wouldn’t get the job. The job was right up my alley, it involved teaching and leading bible studies, and even a fair amount of preaching!

But I didn’t get it.

For weeks I’ve been frustrated with the decision. For weeks I’ve been angry about not getting the job. The position got filled with a worthy candidate, to be sure, but I was still frustrated.

So here I am, jokingly confronting Isaiah about his Holy Temper Tantrum, and I’m throwing one of my own. I’ve been convinced for a while that the adult world is a glorified version of high school – I guess maybe I’m a glorified version of a 3 year old throwing a holy temper tantrum.