Sometimes, I Just Don't Feel Like a Child of God

Wow, the story below really hit home to me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

by Kris Belcher
January 16, 2009
Our shopping trip did not go well at all. My husband and I had taken our six-year-old son, Benji, along with us to the store, and, when he didn’t get his way, he threw a royal tantrum. We listened to - tried to ignore - him weeping the entire way home about what mean parents we were. All this because we said that evil word, “no.”
When we arrived home, Benji followed me into my room and crumbled into a heap on the floor in tears. I knelt down beside him and asked him what was wrong (as if I didn’t already know.)
His answer surprised me.
“I just don’t feel like a child of God!”
I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. I promised him that he was indeed a child of God and that both Heavenly Father and I loved him very much. We prayed together and asked Heavenly Father to let Benji know that he was his special child. That seemed to help and Benji was off to his next adventure.
I’ve thought of this experience frequently and have smiled at his dramatics. However, Benji was one hundred percent sincere. Our "no" had been translated into his not feeling loved by either his earthly parents or Heavenly Father.
I wonder how often that happens with us. Do we mistake a “no” or a “not right now” answer to our prayers as meaning we aren’t loved by the Father? Do you or I ever have those moments when we crumble and say in our hearts, “I just don’t feel like a child of God”?
I know that Father in Heaven loves each of us perfectly. He, like us as earthly parents with our own children, knows that we don’t “need” everything we ask for. His answers to our prayers, or even his silence, does not equate to how much we are loved. You and I are, and always will be, children of the Most High God. The answers we receive are what an all-knowing God knows is best for us. He communicates those answers precisely because he loves us.
If you are having one of those “I don’t feel like a child of God” moments, I promise you what I promised my sad little Benji. You are definitely God’s child and he loves you. I wish I could hold you and reassure you that you are infinitely loved by both the Father and the Son.
I invite you to kneel down and ask the Father in prayer to fill your heart with the knowledge that he loves you. He will send the peace and assurance you so desperately need. He loves you. You are his precious child.