Teach me and I will obey...

Posted on October 14, 2008 12:00 AM MST by Tiffany Kinerson

"Teach me, O LORD, to follow Your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep Your law and obey it with all my  heart."    Psalm 119:3

My oldest son started sucking his thumb when he was about three months old. Man, was he an absolute angel! If he woke himself in the middle of the night, I would imagine he popped that thumb smack into his mouth and fell promptly back to sleep.

I say I imagine he did this because I didn't know for sure since I was sleeping like a baby, myself, in the next room. Thumb-suckers make good babies, a sitter later informed me.

True, how true.

However, along with all bad habits come every dentist's worst nightmare and every orthodontists greatest dream: the dreaded repercussions. Tell me you didn't see that one coming. The boy's got some crooked teeth these days. And not only that, the sucking action, I was told by his speech therapist, caused him to swallow incorrectly which therefore affected the shape of his tongue as he said s, ch, j, sh, and other similar sounds.

Bummer. But I still wouldn't trade the sanity of the first years for all the properly spoken words on the planet.

Nevertheless, the kid had to break his habit. So when our son was about two, we started pulling his thumb out of his mouth during the day, saying, "Not now." And we allowed him all the sucking action he desired for rest time. I imagine his mouth was plugged up twice a day at naptime and all night during actual sleep. And again I say imagine because I still slept like a baby, as did he, fully enjoying luscious naps and glorious rest.

Days, by this time, were completely absolved of sucking. But our thumb crisis, obviously, was still not averted. As a matter of fact, as recently as age 6, a little callous on his left thumb told me all I needed to know about the nightly indulgence that had become his subconscious pattern. Even in spite of himself.

Or maybe it was because of himself. By this time, he was on a seesaw of druthers. On one hand, he wanted to quit sucking his thumb entirely since he was a big boy and all, going to school with a real, live back pack. But then again he enjoyed the pulse of meaty flesh nursing him to oblivion. It was a real quandry, you might say.

This is the heart of real, live addictions, wouldn't you also say?

Ever know you must deal with an issue such as sadness, boredom, anger or fatigue like a big girl, yet the pulse of the chocolate, cookie, cracker or one last bite of supper (even though you're about to burst) would feel so good swishing through your mouth nursing you to oblivion?

I sure know that temptation. And it's a tough one. Because you just can't give up food forever. Try as we may to pretend otherwise, food and drinks are always there. Kind of like a thumb, eh?

So what could he change? Or forget about him. What could I change?
Because we can’t suck our thumbs forever, can we? Don’t we have to grow up sometimes and face our problems? Get our hands dirty in this world?

Yep.

But of course there’s abundant hope for the Christ follower. Because here's the deal in God's world. Just like the verse says above, when God teaches me to follow Him in correct eating patterns—and even when God teaches my son to follow Him in exemplary body patterns—that is the only way in which I can obey His directives. And I’m talking obedience with all of my heart, and—might I say?—with all of my mouth.

So, embracing the power of God, my son began to pray about his thumb-sucking as I pray about my food-sucking. We both decided to let go of our problem and allow God to work through the situation.

We let God be God and then we could just be His kid.

Then slowly but surely, slowly but surely, and slowly but surely again, the callous came off the thumb. The Cheetos lost their shelf in my pantry. It took months but new skin grew in soft and naturally wrinkled at my son’s knuckle. Oreos lost their hold on me, too. His thumbnail grew back ridgeless and strong. And my clothes fit normally.

With each passing month, the two of us grow more like Christ in losing more of ourselves. Because when God teaches us lessons, we learn them. When we try to force a lesson on ourselves through the impotence of willpower, then all that follows is shame, secrecy and guilt. If I willed myself to stay away from that stuff? Failure. If my son tried to will himself from his thumb? Failure again.

But with God’s work in us? No shame, no stress, just a kid being a kid and God being God. A mom watching in excitement as her child learns the power behind his Maker. And a walk together in freedom with Christ.

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