Whose will?

Just this week Abbigail decided to use unacceptable behavior, so I put her in timeout after taking the abused toy away from her.  She screamed and yelled at me, "But I want it!  I want it!" Through the whole ordeal, I began to see my life, and human life, from a whole new perspective. 

You see, there are times in each of our lives when we defy our God, our Father, by doing something he dislikes, something wrong and hurtful.  It is at times like this when he takes our toy away (so-to-speak), to get our attention, and puts us in a spiritual "timeout" (if you will).  All the while, we sit there screaming and yelling what WE want, as though He's just going to step aside and hand us all that we want because it's what we demand.  Well, He doesn't.  He knows better.  He knows that just because we want it that doesn't mean it's what's best for us.  Abby, at three years old, does not understand why I tell her "no" sometimes.  She doesn't get it.  She thinks that just because she says something, that makes it so.  This isn't the case.  If I, as a parent, filled every one of my child's desires, so that she could be happy (by her definition), then she would never go to timeout, never have to take a nap, and she'd have candy all the time.  She would never truly be happy, because happiness isn't always getting what we want.  Happiness is achieved by pursuing God and obeying HIS will, not our own.  I, as a parent, must discipline her, nourish her, and LOVE her into understanding.  I know she may never know or understand some of my decisions, and that's okay.  God doesn't expect us to know or understand all His ways, either, but He's still God...still correcting, feeding, and loving us.