I Got This One, God!

"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11

Gym class was a nightmare. Showing off my negative athletic abilities twice a week in front of twenty-five classmates was frightening. It wasn't like I was the last one to be picked for a team or left alone on the sidelines but athletics just wasn't my thing. But I did have one good day in gym class; a day I'll never forget.

It was basketball season and Ms. Bevans was filling in for our regular teacher. She split us up into two teams and we took our allotted positions on the court. I think I was center. At the sound of her whistle she threw the ball between me and my opponent and the other team took possession of the ball. At least the pressure was off so I could concentrate on blending into the background and avoiding the ball until the final basket was made by someone else.

Suddenly, I turned around and coming straight at me was that orange ball. "Oh no!" I thought, putting my hands out and closing my eyes. The ball landed in my hands perfectly and like a hot potato I flung it towards the basket. It formed a perfect arc and I scored two points for my team.

"Wow! Perfect! Did you all see what she did?" cried Ms. Bevans. I was never so proud and I never repeated that perfect play ever again. But for one moment in time, "I got it!" I was set apart from my classmates as the athletic expert. The positive attention felt great but shooting that one perfect basket did NOT make me an expert in basketball.

Isn't it that way in our walk with the Lord, too? We gain a bit of confidence, maybe some public accolades for our ministerial accomplishments and it all feels so good. All of a sudden we're an expert.

Then a friend approaches us for spiritual guidance. It's so easy to say, "I got this one, God," and proceed to speak our own wisdom into their life rather than leading them to the source of wisdom, God's Word. When God entrusts us with His children, he does not expect us to usurp His authority, but rather to teach them to recognize His voice through reading God's Word and simply listening for His still, small voice in the silence of prayer.

God doesn't need us but He does choose to use us in each other's lives to point to Him as the Source of all wisdom, truth, and grace in this game of life.

Wise Children

"O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you." Psalm 8:1-2

The wisdom of children far surpasses my own, at times. That's why I always welcome their conversations. When I listen to them I'm getting a glimpse of God's heart. Here's a bit of God's wisdom, compassion and power some children have shared with me:

***

It had been an hour-long, Wednesday night praise service. I'd quickly rushed to the nearest empty seat in the middle section of our modern sanctuary and sat alone. I thought I was the only one aware of my surrounding empty seats . Then, during the benediction, a five-year-old girl slid down the long row of chairs to my side. "Hi! I'm Kaitlyn," she said with a sincere smile and sparkling blue eyes. "I thought I'd come sit with you so you wouldn't be alone anymore."

***

I shared a late summer walk around the block with my two-year-old granddaughter. She noticed the piles of dry, discarded leaves alongside the road. She soon discovered how they crunched beneath our feet as we walked. "Crunch, crunch, crunch!" she exclaimed each time, delighted in her new awareness. Then she found an itty, bitty red leaf in perfect form. "Awww. A baby leaf. So cute," she said, stopping to pick it up, examining it like a mother tending to her newborn. "So pretty, red." And she carried God's delicate treasure all the way home.

***

My daughter couldn't settle down for bed. She was just barely 18 months old and feeling out of sorts. I'd rocked her for over an hour and attempted to lay her down three times but each time she shrieked with pain. "What's wrong? Where does it hurt?" I asked.

With that old familiar tug, "My ear," she cried.

"Mommy will be right back with some medicine." I closed the door and whispered up a prayer. "Please, dear Jesus, we can't even afford Tylenol let alone a doctor's visit and Amoxicilin."

When I returned to her crib with a dropper, she greeted me with a big smile, laughing and jumping. "He fixed it, Mommy!" she squealed, pointing to a shelf of stuffed animals.

"Your ear?"

"Yes."

"Who fixed it?"

"He did!"

I pointed to each stuffed animal, Bert and Ernie, even to the characters on the covers of the books we'd read earlier.

"No, Mommy! HE fixed it," she insisted, pointing to the same shelf.

I was stumped. Then I remembered the prayer I'd whispered into thin air. But, Jesus couldn't have revealed himself to my baby girl, for real...could he? So, dismissing that possibility I asked, "Does this man have wings?"

Again she pointed, "No, Mommy! HE fixed it!"

I then pulled out the board book, Jesus and the Children, we'd read earlier and pointed to the picture of Jesus playing leap frog with smiling children. "Did HE fix your ear? Did Jesus fix it?"

Relieved and elated she jumped up and down, "Yes, Mommy. HE fixed it. He fixed my ear!"

"How?" I asked.

"He touched it," she said mater-of-fact, laid down and fell fast asleep for the entire night. She's never had an ear infection since then.

***

It never fails that when I'm in the presence of children, I see Jesus.

Lord, give me their eyes, their faith so that when they spend time with me, they see you, too.