Mister Preacher: The Jellybeans of Doubt

There’s something special about children. Now, don’t get me wrong—children are often sassy, entitled, arrogant, superficial, mean, and smell vaguely of sweaty cookies. But God points them out as extraordinary.

In Luke 18:16, Jesus “called for the children and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like these'" (ISV).

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that statement. If kids are the type of people that the kingdom of God belongs to, I want to be like them. But how?

Trust

Whenever I don’t understand something God is doing, I’m sometimes reminded of a child not understanding why they cannot do a thing which is clearly, to a grownup, not beneficial to them:

In a child's mind, it makes perfect sense that they should get jellybeans on their nachos. I mean we, as adults, have the capacity to give them what they want. We’ve shown them in the past that we love them, and that we’re willing to grant their desires and provide for their needs. So, why, when this so very important jelly-bean related need comes, are we unwilling to provide? It boggles the two-and-a-half-pound mind.

It’s in my own moments of frustration that I completely empathize with how maddening that kind of thing must be for a kid. It makes me want to come up with a better way to explain my no to a child. But, many times, even when we do try to clarify our sincere reasons, it falls on ears unwilling to hear, or minds unable to comprehend—or both.

Beginners

We think we have a solid, basic understanding of how the world works.

We think we’re so smart.

But I have discovered in life that no matter how smart I think I am in a given area, there is always someone so dramatically better at that thing, grasping it so intuitively, that I’m made to feel like a beginner again.

It’s humbling.

I think that’s how it is with us and God. We were children, but now we are fully grown men and women, often clawing our way through life just to make relationships work and ends meet. We would be hard-pressed to admit that we are any longer child-like in our understanding. But, compared to God, we are. God calls us to embrace that fact. But we are unwilling to hear or unable to comprehend.

We need to remember that thing done simply to protect a child is seen as being cruel. When we hold back what seems harmless and good to them, they can’t comprehend any reason that we might do so. So, perhaps, to become like a child, in one sense, is to recall that helplessness and need and to realize that things haven’t changed much where our relationship with God is concerned. Being all-knowing and all-powerful, it stands to reason that God knows best. Whereas we know comparatively little, and have an infuriatingly small amount of control.

It makes sense then that we should become like little children in this area—reliant and trusting of our loving Parent; wise in the fact that we are in need of His guidance in a life we have to admit we do not fully understand. 

It may frustrate us that God does not immediately answer our plea for a job, or stop our pain. But “we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.” (1 John 5:14, NLT). Like a child, I want those things I believe I need now. As a child of God, I need to trust that in my Father’s infinite love, his perfect will is being accomplished. I’m not saying that’s going to be easy, but it will certainly make life a lot less stressful when we accept that God is in control and we don’t have to be.

Photo by Montecruz Foto used under CC