Some Things You Only Learn As a Child

As we draw close to the day of Christmas, we remember how God invaded humanity through a infant boy. Theologians use big words like "incarnation" but to reflect on God limiting Himself to a baby that poops, pees, has to be breast fed, and have his swaddling clothes changed is truly amazing. The Lord has drawn me to a revelation about receiving His Kingdom that goes contrary to our thinking. Our society elevates those who are learned, smart, intelligent, shrewd, and calculating but I don't find this same appreciation when it comes to God's Kingdom. Wisdom is definitely a theme in Scripture, especially in the Proverbs. Wisdom is different then knowledge, wisdom has it's source in the character of God. As I woke up one morning I was hit by disappointment (my wife didn't get a job we were expecting she would get), then I listened to a message talking about prayers and promises that you stopped praying, and then I felt deep inside there were other disappointments. As I went off to meet with a prayer partner, the Lord began to show me that I had a pattern of experiencing disappointment. As my prayer partner led me in prayer to go into the roots of the feelings of disappointment, I began to see a childhood pattern of feeling set up for disappointment. The Lord began to show me that I had closed my heart off and began to become cynical about trusting. Human beings will always disappoint us because we were born of the Spirit to trust a completely faithful God, yet we often inwardly measure God by the people who raised us. The Lord began to speak to me about trust, I was saddened to realize that because my child-like trust had been distorted through the Enemies lies that I had believed God would not come through. When you believe that God will not come through for you (we all have some unbelief), then the only alternative is to try to do things according to your own power (the flesh). As I looked at Matthew 18:1-5 the Lord began to speak to my heart that there revelations that could only be received by becoming as a child. There are a number of people who I see God working through mightily, I am amazed at their child-like faith. Some of these people even talk about being like a little boy with a Big Dad. I found that inside of me was this inner-cynic because I had been hurt and disappointed as a little boy. I am all for studying, understanding Scripture in context, and even understanding the meaning of words in their original language. In this though we can get lost in believing that it is our effort that unlocks the mysteries of omnipotent God but this God seems to want us to know with a heart of a child. Jesus gives the disciples a lesson when they are acting like selfish and competitive children (asking who will be the greatest in the Kingdom) by bringing a child before Him and telling them to become like this child. The word He uses is be converted which carries the meaning to change directions or your mind. Clearly Jesus perspective on the Kingdom was vastly different than the disciples, the disciples are thinking of a corporate structure of upward mobility. Jesus points them to a child and challenges them to take the downward journey of humility. A child is likely to trust easily, open their heart, and enjoy the journey of discovery. We as adults have learned how to protect ourselves from being so silly, innocent, and trusting. We access to vast amounts of information, research, and counsel before we make a decision. I am not suggesting any of these are bad, only that they may prevent us at times from receiving the revelation of who God is. This shows us why it is important for our child heart to be healed from the wounds that we received as we grew. We have a common tradition in the Body of Christ that the better you study the Scripture, the more you know, and the better you can articulate Scripture the more faith you must have. Jesus doesn't seem to elevate these people as what is desired in the Kingdom of God. If you have a seminary degree don't be offended but realize that being great in the Kingdom of God is not dependent on all you know. It is child-like trust and faith that is required to enter the Kingdom of heaven. My question is this the first-time we enter the Kingdom, meaning when we accept Christ as our Savior. Or maybe it means that if we want to experience the realm of the Kingdom of heaven, we must humble ourselves and be like a little child. Also a quality about children is they have amazing imaginations and love new discoveries. I love that kids have a sense of awe, my son has discovered that Corvettes and Mustangs (especially GT500s) are so exciting. When he sees a Corvette you would think he won the powerball by his excitement. So my prayer is that you would open your child-heart and let the Lord show you things in His Kingdom that are beyond your imagination.

In His Grace,
Bret