When being childish isn't such a bad thing

How many times have we heard the following phrase being uttered, most times out of frustration and annoyance

“Stop being so childish!” (not that I’ve heard that being said to me in awhile because you know, I’m all mature and stuff. Really. Stop laughing. I kick you.)

All of us are of the mentality that being childish is something that is undesired (and rightly so) because developmentally we are at an age where we are expected to make decisions and choices which reflect maturity and Godly wisdom. (if I happen to have any 5 year old readers, don’t worry, you’re exempted. You’ve got quite a few years of bad/questionable decisions ahead, some of which will make you cringe at the thought. Just to give you a head’s up. Oh and a word of wisdom? Stop shoving random objects down your throat in the name of fun, alright. That’ll be setting yourselves up for a trip to the ED, where you’ll have to expose yourselves to unnecessary radiation and then risk having the X-Ray of the 1 dollar coin or whistle you swallowed being circulated amongst random medical students.) OK back to the point. There really hasn’t been a point to anything I’ve said so far to be quite honest. I just wanted to add a little disclaimer at the beginning so people won’t get the wrong idea and think that I’m propagating childish behavior with what I’m about to write about next. How it morphed into this is a mystery that will probably unveil itself once I’ve taken my Ritalin. (Kidding!)

What I’d really like to talk about today is being child-like, in the context of being God’s children.

Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

I read this verse sometime last week as part of my devotion material. As I sat back and began to reflect upon why it is that children are put on such a high pedestal in the bible, God began to reveal enlightening truths regarding the heart of children and why He made them the way He did.

1. Children are dependent, needy and not afraid to show it.

We don’t need to have children of our own to know that as playful as kids will be, the moment their parents leave their line of sight, their adorable, chubby little faces crumple and within approximately 0.75 seconds, Scream Fest 2008 ensues. It doesn’t matter that 5 other kids are staring at them (all of which will join Scream Fest 2008 in approximately 1.25 seconds because kids are united that way.), all they want is to know that they’re under the watchful eye of their parents. We can try to distract them with big, bright, colourful toys but even then, every few minutes or so, they’ll scan the room just to make sure their parents haven’t left.

Many times we get distracted by big, bright, colourful toys in the big playroom that is our adult world, assuming that God is there, watching us. Now see, that’s what children never do. Assume. True, God will never leave us nor forsake us as is stated in His word, but the thing that gets to us most times is that we get so engrossed in our new big toy that after awhile, it doesn’t matter anymore whether our Parent is there watching. We become insensitive to the presence of God and only stop to look up when the toy malfunctions. And sometimes, for various reasons, we look up, scan the room, but refuse to cry out for fear that other people will see our vulnerability.

2. They’re open and not ashamed to show affection.

It is a delightful fact that children are never selfish with their hugs and slobbery kisses when it comes to people they love. God like any other parent, delights in receiving hugs and slobbery kisses from us in the form of praise, worship and really, just simple words of affection.

3. They trust completely.

Children will never second guess their parents’ intentions and they’ll believe almost anything told to them. Because they trust completely. The world has taught us to be cynical about everything handed to us and so we second guess and build our own belief systems regarding matters in life. It helps to remind ourselves from time to time that God’s belief system is different to that of the world’s. Trust is a valuable commodity and something we have learnt to hold on to so strongly for fear of betrayal and rejection that we forget that “..the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame” – Romans 9:33

4. They need and love unconditionally.

Have you ever been to a supermarket and seen a child sitting on the floor screaming his/her lungs out because mum refused to allow him (could be a her but for simplicity’s sake I’m gonna go with just “him”) play with the knife set on Aisle 12? I’m sure you have. If you had stayed to watch the whole debacle unfold, you would have seen that at some point, mum would threaten to walk away, leaving him on the floor. What happens then? The kid screams even louder. Because as angry as the kid is at mum for disallowing him the pleasure of slashing himself and other customers, the thought of mum leaving him is even worse. Most times the threat and fear of being left alone will be the one thing that will make him stop. Inevitably, in our moments of frustration and sadness, we sometimes question God. I believe it is human to sometimes voice our questions and cry out to God (if we weren’t allowed to do that, the book of Job would only have one verse – “and so Job died, old and full of years.”)at the injustice of our situation, but like Job and Kid on Aisle 12, we have to always remember that no matter how distressing our situation may be, none can compare to the agony of not having God there at all.

That’s all for now. It was a pleasure being able to share what God has placed in my heart. Hope you were blessed.

God bless!

Su