Thursday ThirstQuencher
October 30, 2008
"Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."
-Matthew 19:14
It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I love children. I am drawn to them in some magnetic way. I love all children, but the little ones somehow capture me. After the never-ending work of the infant stage and before the sass of the school age comes the perfect age of the fun to play with, yet still manageable child.
My nephew, at three years old, is at that perfect age. Gone are his baby days, but yet to come are his boyhood sports obsessions and anti-girl antics. We are in full-fledged, so-cute-it-hurts toddlerhood. He is small enough to want hugs and kisses, big enough to interact and play with. He is adorable! (I'm not biased.) Unhampered by failures and life circumstances his happy-go-lucky charm and innocence precede him. He enters into every situation with complete trust in his gorgeous hazel eyes. I can hold out my hand and without question he will slip his hand in mine so that I can safely lead him across the street. He has faith in me that I would never lead him astray. When mommy says, "No" he looks at me with alligator tears in complete faith that I will pick him up and love on him, and often say, "Yes, buddy, you can so have Gummy Bears." He trusts me to make it all better.
With this image in mind, it is no wonder that Jesus commanded us to "become as children." In Matthew 18 the apostles are arguing over who among them is the greatest. Not exactly humble, but human. Jesus settles the argument by gathering a small child out of the crowd and saying, "Truly, I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children (trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving) you can never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoever will humble himself, therefore, and become like this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4, Amplified.) Jesus is dealing with men who, like me, have thier pride getting the best of them. He uses the example of the child to demonstrate the virtues of forgiveness, trust, and willingness to learn and accept correction.
I stood at a major crossroads this week. I had to make impossible decisions that scared me to death. It was exceedingly uncomfortable and terrifying. I spent a fair amount of time crying and getting angry and then, recalling that in my weakness He is strength, I turned to my Heavenly Father and waited for Him to make it all better. And because He is faithful to answer when we call, He did! All that He required was that I step outside the boundary of my pride and let Him wipe my tears away. The situation didn't change. It is still just as scary and impossible as it first seemed, but from the safety of my Father's arms, the perspective has changed. I have faith and trust that He has me covered.
That is what childlike faith is all about. Not that we behave in a childish manner, but respond to life's impossibilities with the open faith that a child possesses. Mark 10:27 says, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." He has called us His children (1 John 3:1.) He has adopted us as His own (Ephesians 1:5.) His promise is to comfort us as a mother comforts her child (Isaiah 66:13.)
Children are fearless! If I had a dollar for the number of times over the years that I have said to someone's child, "Get down from there, you're going to hurt yourself" I could retire now and live a cushy life in Malibu. With age comes wisdom...or so they say...and as we get older, it gets harder to step out of our comfort zones and live lives free from cautiousness and calculation. But this is what Christ calls us to do. When life seems unfair we should turn to God without hesitation and in complete faith that He will make it all better. Abolishing the rememberence of hurt that makes us cautious and unwilling to trust is difficult, but neccessary. It is the start of the fine art of letting go.