What Do You Prefer?

1 Corinthians 4:21 "Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit" NLT
"What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?" NIV 

      Wow, Lord!  If I had received this letter with this statement in it I would have trembled and have immediately chosen the second option.  However; I am a more compliant type personality.  I can almost hear the arrogant one's response though: "Oh yeah, Dad? You think you're so big and know everything?  Come on back with your whip and I'll show you a thing or two hot shot!"
      Lord, we can be so very ignorant and full of ourselves.  We think we are so very smart, but in fact our knowledge is but  drop in a bucket compared to Yours.  You ALWAYS know what's best for us.
      I was speaking with someone the other day who had been a soldier in Iraq.  He said that the last one and a half years has been tough because You were trying to teach him to trust You.  You had me share an illustration with him.  I asked him what would have happened to him if he had ignored a direct order from his supreme commander.  He of course said he would have been in deep trouble.  I also asked him if he had ever been taught as a soldier to surrender.  He said , "Absolutely not!"  I told him that he needed to surrender his will to his supreme commander...YOU!  You are the only one who knows what's best, and knows the whole plan for the whole war.  You have his best interest in mind, but also know what You have for him to do to help "win" the war.
   I placed an empty chair in the middle of the room and told him it was the throne of his life and You were sitting there.  I told him to go over and tell You to get off and then sit there himself.  It had the effect You wanted. :o)  He said he had never looked at it that way before and his countenance changed altogether.  I told him he needed to surrender to Your will...not the enemy who wants us to follow our own!
      Thank You, Lord, for the way You teach us...ME!  Simple obedience to Your word is always the best option as You are the only one who knows the end from the beginning and have the best plan...not always the easiest plan...but the best one!