How many times have you heard your kids say "Dad, if you let me watch this show, I'll be extra nice to my brother today." Or on the flipside, "Dad, if you don't let me have a treat after dinner then I won't eat my dinner at all!"

They require no special training to develop this skill either. It seems to be wired into their very nature, although they can certainly learn to make better choices (and we give them plenty of guidance in that direction).

It struck me today that I'm just like my kids when it comes to God.

I mean, today on the way home, in the pouring rain, during rush hour - and on a day when I forgot to bring my cell phone with me - my 99 Ford Ranger decides to start misfiring on cylinder #4. I'm literally riding a black, bucking bronco in stop-and-go traffic... shifting in and out of Drive in order to keep it from stalling since it was idling so roughly, and getting more and more completely pissed off as each mile slowly crawled by!

My conversation with God at that moment quickly turned to "God, can you just make this thing run better?".... "for just a few minutes so I can get home without having to walk in the rain to a service station?!"

I knew it wasn't God's fault that my truck is badly in need of new spark plugs. But at that moment I found myself trying to negotiate with God - and not even over a life-or-death issue.

Have you ever caught yourself pleading "God, I promise I'll learn my lesson this time if you just get me off the hook one more time"?

Fortunately, I strongly believe that God looks at us in the same way that we look at our kids - He genuinely wants to give us good things, but he also doesn't always shield us from challenges that will help us grow.

Don't worry, I won't get any more preachy than that - and I still have to go figure out what's wrong with my truck tonight, so I can make it to work tomorrow morning.