And I wonder…
When did we stop believing in miracles?
When did we start reducing God to the size of the container we can get our minds around?
When did what we see trump what we know to be true?
When did we let circumstances determine our level of trust in God’s goodness?
When we stopped being children.
When adult life and its problems and stresses choked out what remained of that childlike faith that Jesus loves so much. It wasn’t intentional, and chances are we weren’t even aware that it was happening until the first day we felt the weight of the world on our shoulders, the pit of anxiety in our bellies.
We realized at some point that our eyes were better at seeing WHAT was staring us in the face than WHO was gazing at us with love through it all.
Somehow we came to think that because we couldn’t see God and what He was doing that He couldn’t see us either.
We lost that 20/20 vision of God and that complete trust in the goodness of Jesus’ hands and ways that came so easily as a child.
Life got hard and our eyesight got blurry.
But Jesus says we can change all that.
We just need to put our glasses on.
Mark 10:13-16 –
The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them. (The Message)
We can experience the “kingdom of God” here and now. We can see miracles in the every day, even when things around us appear to be falling apart, or when all we seem to hear is God’s silence.
When we put on the glasses of childlike faith and trust in the same Jesus these children knew, He will reveal things to us that adult eyes can’t see. He will gather us in His arms and bless us with His love and presence like He did for these little ones. We will find strength and clarity and peace when we trade our eyesight for His.
We begin to remember that our Jesus:
– calmed storms
– healed the sick
– brought the dead to life
– turned water into wine
– fed thousands with five loaves and two fish
– transformed haters into lovers of Jesus
Don’t you want to believe again?
To experience Jesus in the unlikely places of difficulty and the unknown?
To know that He is busy working on the things that burden your heart and occupy your every thought?
To be the recipient of His power in our lives and in the lives of others?
Grab those childlike glasses and see Jesus again for the first time….
Psalm 138:8 – (In awesome, various versions!)
The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
The LORD will work out his plans for my life–for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
The LORD will complete what his purpose is for me. LORD, your gracious love is eternal; do not abandon your personal work in me.
