My heart is completely captivated by children. Today my principal was running around aimlessly at our high school, she just looked at me and said, "I've got 200 kindergartners up in my office, and I can't find out where they're supposed to go!" When I turned the corner a minute later, there they were, dressed for Field Day and perfectly silent. I walked passed one of the teachers and said, "that's pretty impressive!" She just laughed. When I came back from out of the office, my Principal just looked at me with a look of hopelessness and she taught 200 kindergartners how to hold up their "KICK 'EM COLTS!" signs, and just laughed. My only response was, this makes me happy...
Last night when I came home, before I even got out of my car, I had decided I was going to walk in and go straight to my bed. My three year old niece caught my attention on route. I stopped to talk with her as she played with her little mermaid in the bathtub. I turned to say hi to my mom, and when I did, Gabby yelled, "I don't like you Mimi!" (what she calls my mom). Usually, this wouldn't have bothered me so much because sometimes I think she really doesn't even know what she's saying or what it means. But this time it really struck a chord. I said, "Gabby, that wasn't a very nice thing to say to Mimi, you need to tell her you're sorry." She just looked at me like, "really? I'm three!" I said it again, but no response. She just looked at me for a while. I was just finishing up talking to my mom and was turning to leave, when Gabby said something that stopped me. She said, "Emily? Is God mad at me?" Without knowing how to respond, my mom quickly responded with, "God is sad with you when you say those kind of things." Moms are so great with words. She looked at me again for a while and then said, "Mimi! I'm sorry!" I just smiled. I love when she talks about God, because if only for a moment, it's as if something's really got her thinking. We continued talking and she said, "Emily? is God angry with me now? " I said, "No, Gabby, God loves you." She asked, "but why?" Her question made me think. "He loves us because He chose to, Gabby. You're His precious daughter. That makes you a princess!" And just as my mom was saying, "now that's a concept she's not ready for," Gabby interrupted and said, "Isn't Jesus the daddy?" I said no, "God is the Father and Jesus is the Son." She responded, "Oh! okay so is my daddy a prince!?" I said, "You're absolutely right." She seemed satisfied with the conversation and ended it with, "SO....you're a princess? and I'm a princess? and Mimi's a princess? and Ms. Roxie's a princess and...." I think she caught it.
Psalm 78 talks about God's kindness to Israel. If you've ever read the Old Testament, you'll find that God's elect, his children of Israel reject Him over and over again all the way through the OT. God chooses kings and His prophets to lead His people and all the way through we read about how they praised God for all the good things He was doing, then they went off and served other gods, were chastened by the Lord, repented and then the Lord poured out His mercy on them. Psalm 78 is a great summary of some of the things God did in the Old Testament, even before the time of Christ.
- "He divided the sea and caused them to pass through and He made the waters stand up like a heap."
- "In the daytime He lead them with the cloud, and all night with the light of fire."
- "He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink in the abundance like the depths."
- "He rained down manna on them to eat, and given them of the bread of heaven."
- "He also rained meat on them like the dust, feathered fowl like the sand of the seas."
It says closer to the middle of the chapter, "So they ate and were filled, for He gave them their own desire." "Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer. Neverless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue; for their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity..."
When we're young, we ask lots of questions because we want to know everything about all things. We want to understand why? or how things work. We're filled with a desire to know more and we trust that the people in our lives will give us the truth. As we get older, the questions we ask typically become more inquisitive, because somewhere in our life we stopped trusting and came up with our own ideas of what the truth really is.
Had the Israelites stopped questioning God's authority and just trusted that He would lead them, they probably wouldn't have been left in the desert for 40 years. But even then, God provided for their needs because He loved them and had compassion on His people.
Why do we still think we know it all? Wouldn't it be easier if we took on the characteristics of a child, and just trusted God. That's His desire for us. "But He who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him." Psalm 32:10 "They trusted, and you delivered them." Psalm 22:4
Even as an infant, "But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on my mother's breasts." Psalm 22:9
I'll say one more thing about how trust correlates with how God works in our lives. Kellie and I were talking one evening about God and His hand in our lives. We were talking about how sometimes it's hard when we can't actually feel Him near. The Lord showed me this picture. When a father is teaching his child to ride a bike, he has one hand on the child, and one hand on the bike. He teaches the child everything about how to ride the bike and leads the bike with one hand in the direction he wants the child to go. He spends a lot of time teaching his child how to make turns, stop and watch for danger. And one day, he lets go of the bike. It's not because the Father is leaving his child, it's because he wants to see how well the child does with what he's taught him. And if the child falls, he's the first one there to pick him up and carry him. I love this, because it is a perfect example of how our Father loves us. If you ever feel as though our Father is far, just remember He promises never to leave you. He's just checking to see what you're going to do with everything He's shown you. It's walking in faith. In the things unseen.
His plans for our lives are perfect and we can trust in that. Just let go of whatever it is that you're holding on to, and lay it at His feet. Sometimes, what we want for our lives is going to be different from what God wants for our lives. Each morning wake up and practice asking the Lord what it is that He desires for your life. When you trust the Lord, your faith is strengthened. Your heart is filled with joy, and God's name is lifted higher.
Put your trust in the Father.
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