But I Don't Want Him to Go...

Yesterday I went to pick up my mom from my sister's house. She keeps my niece and nephew, and she decided to ride home with me instead of driving home yesterday. Anyway, when I got there Raegan and Trace's "Pa" (their dad's father) was there. He'd come by for a short visit before his normal Tuesday night bowling.
Of course my niece and nephew had taken to climbing all over them and saying, "Pick me up, Pa." Then my niece took to untying her Pa's shoes. Not really sure why, but she has an obsession with untying shoes. Her Pa watched her untie them them retied them without saying a word. Again she untied them, and and again he retied them. This happened several times, then he got "firm" and said, "Now, don't untie my shoes, okay? I've got to leave in a minute"
His firm words obviously struck fear into the heart of my niece because she took a whole five seconds to untie the shoes again. I said, "Raegan, Pa said not to untie his shoes. He has to go in a minute."
She said, "But I don't want him to go!"
And I thought about how many times we try to change the outcome of things by doing things we know we shouldn't. My niece knew she wasn't supposed to untie her Pa's shoes again, but she did it in efforts to keep him at her house longer.
It's an inborn trait to try to get things to go our way using any means necessary. Now, it didn't really hurt anything for my niece to untie her Pa's shoes, but if allowed to continue in that attitude, she'd be looking at nothing but trouble in a few years.
As we grow older, we come to realize that our irrational reactions really do nothing to help our situations. I'll give you an example. When I first found out I was pregnant, my first thought was running my car into a tree. Now, you may judge me, or feel sorry for me, or think I'm purely crazy for that. But that was just my honest first reaction. Not because I hated the thought of Alaena, but because I wasn't really sure I could bear the shame of the whole situation or if I could handle telling everyone I needed to tell.
And that was Satan's first offered solution to the situation. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit was with me. He offered me a friend who offered immediate prayer and comfort. He gave me the assurance that He was still with me, and that if I put my cares on Him, He would take care of me (I Peter 5:7.)
So I didn't run my car into a tree. And you know what, looking back, I can see that thought for just what it was. A trick that Satan tried to pull on me. Because, doing that would have caused more grief to my family then this pregnancy ever could. And had I done it, I would have never had the chance to use this situation to help others. Which is just what Satan wanted.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that when you're looking for the easy way out, remember that the aftermath of your choice may cause more problems then you realize. And if you take the road that seems hard at the time, you may get more blessings out of it then you ever realized was possible.
Remember too that there are others out there facing problems (I Peter 5:8-9.) And the same God will give all of us strength if we lean on Him. And it's much easier to walk these hard paths together.