God Has Infinite Creative Solutions – Just Ask

Parenting is HARD. It is the toughest job I have ever had, but also the most rewarding. I know many people have said that and it seems cliche, until you live it. My kiddos put me in new situations, bring up new struggles, and have minds of their own that throw me off my game at a moment’s notice. Each day forces my husband and I to punt, adapt, and adjust with their ever changing needs and desires. 

Don’t get me wrong, it is extremely rewarding to love on little people with all that I have and all that I am – to see them explore and encounter the world around them is crazy amazing.

But when I don’t understand what is happening in their little minds or can’t fathom what they are experiencing, I am at a loss. This has happened multiple times in the short time I have been a parent. 

There is one time in particular, my husband and I were at a loss. One of our kids would erupt in anger whenever we spoke to her, no matter what our voice inflection. We could talk to her with a kind, silly, calm, or monotone voice and not matter what, she would erupt in anger and stomp off. Each time this happened, we would look at each other with expressions of disbelief and bewilderment. 

“WHAT DID WE DO WRONG?” 

“WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?” 

REACHING OUT TO GOD IN DESPERATION

It was Friday and after the night’s shenanigans of family movie night and bedtime routines, we were exhausted. We crawled into bed confused, frustrated, and sad. We didn’t know what to do and prayed together asking the Lord for help.

We felt this was our last ditch effort. I felt bad that we had waited this long to bring it to God. This should have been our first step, but it wasn’t.

James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” That is what we were doing. We were finally bringing our issue before the Lord, asking Him to come into our situation with all of His wisdom and knowledge.

We specifically asked God for a creative solution to this issue as we felt we had exhausted everything we had in our arsenal from reading books, seeking out professionals for help, talking with other parents, etc. We fell asleep hoping to carry on this conversation again in the morning.

GOD’S CREATIVE SOLUTION

I got out of bed and started my Saturday anticipating a difficult morning as everyone got ready for basketball. We had multiple games that morning and getting everyone out of the house unscathed probably wasn’t going to happen. We had routines setup that ultimately would fail for one reason or another due to this child’s misunderstanding of what was happening and our intent to help.

However, my husband was acting differently that morning. He wouldn’t speak out loud to anyone. He had a mini white board in hand with a dry erase marker and an eraser. Any time someone asked him a question or He wanted to talk to one of us he would write down what he would normally have just spoken out.

I was confused and getting a little mad. The kids would jokingly yell at him asking him to just speak out loud. We all were confused, but he wouldn’t budge from his new form of communication style. 

As I suspected, we didn’t leave unscathed and I was quite frustrated with Kevin. What was he doing? Why was he treating all of us this way? 

After we all climbed into the car to make our way to basketball, I was getting more frustrated. He still had his new communication tools with him and with a smile on his face, he continued to write down anything he had to say to us.

At this point, I was not a happy camper. I angerly, under my breath, I asked Kevin again what he was up to. He gave me a smirk, leaned over, and said, “I will tell you later.”

I was so confused, but realized, with THAT smirk, there was a method to his “madness.” 

As we walked into the gym, he pulled me aside and filled me in on his shenanigans. He said that the night before he had a dream and woke up knowing what he needed to do to change the response our child had every time we spoke to her. 

I was like, “Wait, you had a dream? God spoke to you in a dream?!” 

He said, “Yeah, I woke up and just knew exactly what I had to do. We prayed about it last night and I feel this is our creative solution, the answer to our prayer.”

I was skeptical, but thought what was the harm in trying this? I mean we did see a little improvement that morning and this little improvement gave me hope. 

This was an answer to prayer on so many levels. I had been praying that Kevin would start to get dreams from the Lord and if this is how God started sharing His heart with Kevin, then I was all in. I mean, dreamers are all over scripture, people who God spoke to through a dream. If God never changes, and is the same yesterday, today and forever, then why not us? (For more on how the Lord communicates and where this is found in scripture, check out this post.)

OUR FAMILY IS TRANSFORMED

Over the next couple of weeks we watched as our child was transformed. Any time she started to have a negative response to what we were saying, the white board came out. ALL communication was on that board until the conflict was resolved. Both parties had to write down their responses. It took all voice inflection out of the equation, which seemed to be the problem.

Slowly, the whiteboard came out less and less until finally it was put away for good. Voice inflection became a stress reliever in our home and now we no longer are ambushed by misunderstandings in this area of our lives. 

PRAISE JESUS!

SO THANKFUL

Colossians 2:4 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” This story encompasses this verse.

Once we decided to bring our issue to the Lord, we watched for how He was going to answer it. As we watched how it unfolded in our family, the only thing we could do was to thank Him over and over again. 

We rejoice in this testimony of God’s faithfulness and love that we experienced. We can trust in this truth: that He is a God who never changes. He has provided for us and will do it again. This has built our faith to boldly step out and ask for more creative solutions in all areas of our lives. 

As believers in Jesus, we are told that we have access to the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). If He is outside of all our situations and can see all solutions, why not ask Him for help? Why not start by asking Him for THE solution. He may give you the answer out right, like He did for us through one of the many ways He communicates, dreams. He may lead you to a conversation with another person to seek wisdom. He may show you an answer in scripture to show you how the word is alive and active for you today. His ways are endless!

Be expectant that He will move, that He will answer you.

YOU CAN TOO

How have you drawn close to God and then seen Him draw close to you (James 4:8)? Have you sought the Lord in prayer? Have you asked Him for a creative solution to a problem you are facing?

If you have not prayed this way, I challenge you to ask God for a creative solution to whatever you are facing. He longs for us to ask Him. He is a gentleman and often waits for us to draw close to Him. He doesn’t want to force Himself in our lives.

Once you pray, take a step back and see what happens. Be open to any way He wants to communicate His solution with you and be faithful to carry out what He shows you. It could change the trajectory of your life.

I would love to hear the creative solutions God has given you. Please leave a comment below or reach out through my CONTACT page and let me know what happened, what His creative solution was for your situation.