You know, it is funny how at some points in our adult lives we just wish we can be kids…for just a moment. It’s funny because all the little children I know really want to be adults…so much so, sometimes, they really get angry when you do treat them as kids.
They insist they can turn on the gas cooker, and they go on to shame your fears for them. They wear your adult shoes and insist that it fits, even when they can obviously see that it doesn’t fit at all. They go behind you, do everything possible to reach and touch the sharp objects that you’ve kept way beyond their reach, and when you catch them, they try to convince you into believing in their ability to handle the sharp objects…and their reason? They’ve observed you and hence can do exactly what you can do that you think they can’t do.
Little children, most times, don’t want to be kids. They want what’s reserved for their teen and adult lives, now…and when you deny them that pleasure they go all out to throw different colours of tantrums…now, this is not a good thing. The good thing is…we can still learn from little children. So, with this blog post, I want us to see some characteristics we can adopt from little children.
And you know what’s super cool? What’s super cool is…these things we can learn from kids are things that the Bible already teaches. So it’s understandable…it’s understandable when Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Mark 10:15 (ESV)
OK, so, what are little children teaching us?
Most little children prefer the company of their parents to that of anyone else
Almost every week, for five years and counting now, I get to teach and manage children between the ages of 18months to 24months. So, you have to trust me when I say little children, no matter how kind and playful they are with you; will always prefer the company of their parents. Yes, the easy going ones will be calm and say goodbye to their parent(s) when they drop them off, and they will rush in to join in the activities for the day, but the moment they sight their parent(s) coming to pick them up? They forget you exist. They’ll leave all, every, and you…and with all swiftness and urgency, they’ll run towards their parent(s). Now, don’t even get me started on the ones that don’t even want their parent to leave their presence in the first place, because words can’t explain what that looks and feels like.
Children always want and enjoy the company of their parents, and who will blame them? Nobody trained them to identify their parents. They identified their parents by themselves. They saw these persons giving them the attention they needed. They felt loved and safe around these persons so they naturally became attached to them.
When it comes to our relationship with God, it should be the exact same way. The company of the God-head-three-in-one (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) should be our most desired companionship. Whether we’re married or single; searching or found. How do you treat the company of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit? Are you excited about having them in your life? Do you really prefer their company to anyone and anything else?
I also get to have a niece that live in the same house with me. Now, we lost her mom when she was just a week old, so she grew up having her grandmom, my mom, as the mother figure in her life. When this girl wakes up in the morning, she looks around and greets everyone, but if she can’t find my mom around she’ll not be happy. As I write this, she’s almost five, but guess what? She woke up this morning to get ready for school, and when she discovered that my mom had left the house she literally started sobbing. She was sad about not seeing her grandmom in the morning?
Can we say the same about you and your relationship with God?
Do you enjoy just spending time with God?
Do you enjoy just reading about Jesus in the Bible?
Do you enjoy having the Holy Spirit lead you through the day?
I’ve also realized that parents share almost the same affection for their little children. Like parents, God loves us so much too, only His love is way better, and He wants this inseparable relationship with us. If your experience with God is nothing close to this, then there’s a BIG problem and you need to ask God to help you get on a better platform with Him…He’ll help you…because He wants it more than anything else.
Like parents, it is God’s responsibility to bring you to the place where you fall in love with Him, that responsibility isn’t yours. But, if the world separates a child from the parents, the parents will never have the privilege to make the child fall in love with them. If we allow the world separate us from God, God will not have the opportunity to express His unconditional love to us. So you need to come close to God. God is already at the closest point He can ever be. He’s just waiting for you to come.
In Psalms 122:1, David said, “I was glad when they said to me; let us go to the house of the Lord.” Can you say the same? Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If God is your treasure, your heart will always be with Him.
Most of the things we can’t understand in our lives, most of the issues we get to deal with, most of the mistakes we make…can all be traced back to not having a personal, inseparable, loving relationship with our heavenly Father.
Like a child, we need to have an inseparable relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Every normal child will always strive to crawl and walk…no matter how afraid the child is
My older siblings said I was really scared of learning how to walk as a child. I believe them, because even as an adult there are a whole of things I’m just getting to stop being afraid of…like learning how to look down from a height, even as low as just a storey building. Crazy, right? Well, good news is I’m beginning to kill my fears one after the other, and that explains why “No Longer Slaves” by Bethel music is one of my favourite songs to listen to. Thank you Jonathan and Melissa Helser, you sang with God’s Anointing. I feel the Anointing, whenever I listen.
Some children are like that. They’re just so so so scared about taking the risk to move from just sitting at a place and crawling… and of course, the big one…walking. They don’t want to fall. They don’t want the hurt and pain that comes with the effort. They don’t want to risk it. But. God all by Himself placed on the inside of every child, the ability to get pass the fear and…just do it.
Every normal child…no matter how scared, like me, still faces the fear and push through. If little children can push through their fears, then you too can face your fears. What’s that mountain or fury furnace before you? I want you to know that you can push through it. As a child of God, on your inside is the ability to push through. God is the one that makes a scary-less-than-a-year-old or a year old push through the fear to crawl and walk. In the same way, God has also given you a “greater in you” power to push through any circumstances you’re facing right now or…any you’ll ever face.
Isaiah 41:10 says “Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I’ll strength you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (ESV)
Like a child…push through your fears and crawl…and walk…and then run… It is called maturity.
Every normal child always wants to be busy with something
Naturally, little children sleep for a longer time than adults…had to say that so you’ll know from the start that when I say “busy” I don’t mean refusing to rest. In fact, little children know when to give in to rest naturally; you don’t have to tell them to. Within a minute, they can be so active and immediately switch into rest mode…I mean, within a minute.
So, now we’re all clear, I can go further to say that little children always love to create, build…and then scatter, but the reason they scatter is because they want to create and build yet again. Their logics are totally off, but their hearts are in the right place. They just want to do something. They just want to be busy. When they do a particular thing for just a few minutes they want to move on to another thing. If you don’t give them toys, they’ll use anything they can find…I mean anything their hands can find. If they feel like kicking and hitting something, if they can’t find a ball or a drum stick…and your iPhone is available…they’ll take the iPhone…and they’ll kick it and hit with it. Well, like I said…the logic is off, but their hearts? Definitely in the right place.
Now, we can’t be disorganized as a child, but we have to always find something to be busy with, like a child. Where has God placed you? What are you doing in it? What has He placed in your hands? What are you doing with it? You might not really like the “where” or the “what” or even the two, but if that’s where God has placed you…if that’s what He has placed in your hands…there’s a reason. Get busy.
You should read the parable of the talent as recorded in the book of Matthew 25:14-30.
Like a child…you need to get busy with your “where” and “what.”
You can’t put a leash on the Joy that exudes from little Children…and that’s because they believe everything is always fine… They TRUST with reckless abandon.
Yes, little children cry and feel sad, but that’s nothing compared to the Joy that’s within them. You really can’t contain the Joy that exudes from little children. They don’t care about the emotion that is controlling the atmosphere, they’re just happy. They don’t care if adults want the place to be quiet or noisy…they just want to let out their Joy. They’ll scream, run, jump…try hushing them and they’ll take a few seconds break…and they’re right back to where they were, and maybe, with more intensity.
Why are children like that with Joy? Because they believe everything is fine. They believe when they’re hungry, there’ll and should be food. They believe when they want to sleep, there’ll be a spot or arm. They believe greater things await them when they wake up. Little children don’t believe they have to think out their lives…well, they don’t. It is the responsibility of the parents or guardian to do the thinking for them…and then bring them on board.
Now, I know little children don’t have any reason to worry about anything, and we can easily and quickly use that to console ourselves. But, one of the expressions of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit is Joy, and what this means is that our Joy shouldn’t be dependent on anything or anyone. It is something that just happens because we have the Holy Spirit on the inside of us. So, when we allow the Holy Spirit do His work in our lives, He’ll supply us with unconditional Joy that will surprise even us. The kind of Joy that makes our flesh to make us feel guilty…but then the Joy quickly brings us to the realization that we don’t have to feel guilty because it is God’s will for us to be Joyful.
And let’s talk about all those things we even worry about…those things that children don’t have to worry about. The Bible says we shouldn’t worry (Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:6-7)…but to REJOICE, ALWAYS (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Philippians 4:4). That sounds kind of impossible, right? You know some other things that sound kind of impossible? Well, let’s make a list: using two fishes and five loaves of bread to feed more than five thousands persons, asking Jesus to bid you “come” so you can walk on water, using a stone to bring a giant solider down, etc.
Personally, I believe the reason we, Christians, don’t get to see the active power of God in our lives is because we just don’t trust the simplicity God has called us to walk in. We want something a bit complex…you know, something that’s very deep…so when we finally get a hold of it, we’ll have that “I’ve been to the mountain top and back” kind of feeling… Hello? God doesn’t want to share His glory with anyone…not even you.
Like a child, let your Joy know no bounds… Like a child, you have to trust that your Father…your heavenly Father, has got everything figured out for you…and that He’ll bring you on board.
Little children can’t produce or keep hate
Little children are so pure and innocent; they don’t and can’t understand the language of hate. They demand Love and they give it back. They want and expect you to show them love. They want you to give them what you’re eating, they want you to carry them, they want you to play with them, they want you to be all they want you to be… they don’t just want…they see it as their right…their right to have everything good.
And yes, they can be very selfish, which is not a good thing…but when a little child decides to give back to you…no matter who you are or are not…no matter what you’ve done to them or haven’t done to them…no matter what they feel or do not feel…when a little child decides to give to you…it’s nothing but LOVE, pure LOVE…because that’s what is on the inside of them.
We also have the FULLNESS of LOVE on our inside too. God has made us His temple; He dwells on the inside of us. So, it doesn’t matter who you are or are not, it doesn’t matter what people have done to know or haven’t done to you, it doesn’t matter how you feel or do not feel… When you give…give LOVE, pure LOVE. If you don’t have enough Love to give…then you need to sit at the feet of Jesus, and receive the Love of the Father. I mean just think about a good parent you know, and imagine that God is way better at loving you than that good parent you know. Read the Bible and ask God to help you understand and believe His Love towards you. You can only give as much as you’ve understood and believed His own Love towards/and for you.
Our hearts were created to produce and nurture Love, not hate…and that explains why you feel so much pain and hurt when you try to produce and nurture hate in your heart. Hate is toxic to the heart. You have to let it out of your heart. It can kill you. The only time you’re permitted to produce hate is when it is towards something that’s SINFUL. The hatred you produce for SIN is good for your heart too.
It seems hard, when we really feel a deep hurt and pain, especially when the source is not changing in any kind of way. But you have to let hate out of your heart, because it is your heart that is damaging not the heart of the one that is hurting you and is refusing to change. If the pain is so much, ask God for the Grace to let go…and Grace will find you. When it becomes so hard, always remember the offering of Jesus. Remember that you too caused Jesus so much, yet His mercy is never changing…no matter what you’ve done…no matter what you’re doing…no matter what you’ll ever do. God doesn’t require and will never require anything from us, but He has asked us to extend this same mercy to others.
Jesus in John 15:12 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.” (AMPC)
Like a child, you shouldn’t produce hate…no matter what…yes, no matter what.
Just to remind you: All and every God says you can and should do…you are and should be, is…possible. In the flesh they might seem impossible, but with God it’s possible…simply possible.
My prayer for you:
God wants you to really be His child, and I pray you really become God’s child.
Amen.
Do get in the gym, and do
Stay Spiritually Fit.
