My little girl is spoiled

Over the past couple of weeks, that has become more apparent than ever. Daddy has spoiled her, not mamma. :) Mamma would have never given in to all that daddy has. So daddy and me had a talk about how things need to change. He agreed. So on the way home a couple of days ago from a trip we took, my little girl threw a big fit over something she wanted that we both said no to. Usually daddy would have given in, but he was standing firm after our talk. She wailed in the back seat and then sat there with a sad face for a long time. I wanted to give in. I don't like to see her upset and unhappy. I love to see her with a smiling face and having a good time. But as I sat there enduring the moments of her sadness, I thought of the scripture,
Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

I thought about how on a much bigger scale, God goes through this with us. He doesn't give into our every whim and desire. He doesn't always fix our pain. He endures our sad faces, and sometimes all out wailing, to mature our hearts, and make us more like His son. It is often through pain, that we learn the most about God and see the sinfulness of the flesh boil over, so that we agree with God, that we are in great need of Him.

My little girl will understand more and more in time that by not giving her everything she wants all the time, is a sign we love her, and not the opposite, which is how she might feel in the moment.

God gives us what we need at all times, but that can be very different than what we want sometimes.

But what does God delight in the most. I believe it's seeing us happy and laughing and enjoying Him. That is his plan for His children for all eternity. He's getting us there, but for now, He's going to have to endure watching us go through some pain here as we grow and mature in Christ.

Of course, He desires us to enjoy the blessings He give us too, just like we desire our kids to enjoy gifts and things we give them. He wants to see us with joy, in the good times, and the bad. He wants to see us dancing and celebrating the freedom He has given us in Christ.
And I love this quote by John Piper:
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.