I was sitting at home the other night and it was bed time for my youngest three kids.  I was in one room and they were in another and I was telling them to get ready for bed.  They sorta listened so I repeated myself.  A few minutes later as I was still sitting in the other room, I noticed that they still had not done the three bedtime things: pajamas, teeth, & potty. At that point I got off my lazy rear and went into the other room to follow up on the bedtime routine.  I then proceeded to tell them they were taking too long and were not listening very well.

So I know you never have this problem and your kids always obey the first time without delay.  Mine do too. Sometimes. But not always. But they always obey better if I make just a little effort to physically go to where they are and then instruct them. It’s still not 100% but the percentages are much higher.

Anyone have a boss like this?  Just sends emails but never actually talks to you?  Hmmm….

And don’t get me started on my dog. He does everything I want if he is within arm’s reach. With every additional foot from me, he delays 30 seconds.

In a military sense, this is called power projection. Or something like that.  I’m not exactly an expert in military matters. But for the military, putting an aircraft carrier off the shore of some country keeps many things in check. The farther away the carrier gets the likelihood increases that things will happen that they don’t want. I think I’m mostly right in that example.

Right or not, that is how my kids sometimes act towards me. The farther away I am, sometimes they are just not that thrilled about listening to me and doing what I want. And that is how I act towards God many times. I perceive that he is far away and that I can get away with things. How ridiculous is that? It’s like a fish pretending there isn’t any water around him. Just really dumb.

God doesn’t manage from the other room. He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to go to the other room to be in it. He already is everywhere all the time. Admittedly, I do sometimes wish I could get out of arms length for just a bit so I could get away with things.

Can you relate?