ahi.

"if your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? if he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? as bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. you're at least decent to your own children. so don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?" - matthew 7:7-11

i've heard this scripture all my life assuming it meant that when things that hurt happen to me, i just need to wait a bit and God will turn it into something that doesn't hurt...something appealing instead of painful...something so good it will make up for the bad. so, in the past, when it seems like i'm staring a snake in the eyes, i push it away and wait for the seared ahi to arrive. eventually i get really sick of waiting, and the snake starts to unnerve me, so i finally shake my fist to the sky and shout, "where the hell is the sushi??" but i'm seeing it differently today. as i read this time, i'm seeing things differently. here's the revelation: maybe i don't know the difference between a fish and a snake. maybe what He's telling me in this scripture is that i can trust that what He hands me is not a snake...that what comes my way, painful or not, may be the nourishment i need. it may sound like the same thing, but i've never really read it from that perspective before. this angle requires me to trust...to stop analysing the "food" i'm handed, judging whether or not it's what i think will satisfy what i'm wanting, and trust that it is beyond my analysation...trust that it is what fits the real hunger...the one i may not even be aware of. interesting. i'm still thinking this one through...