While attending another church to see neighbor children sing on a recent Advent Sunday, I experienced a poignant moment.
At the end of the service, a sweet
four-year-old sat in my lap, and as the directions for communion were
explained, I had a bit of uncertainty about where the child I held
would go while I took communion and when I should move forward. She had no uncertainty. She hopped off my
lap, took my hand, and began leading me forward. Of course, I thought. She does
this with her mother. She knows exactly what to do.
Several hours later, I still
pondered that experience. As so many of us do this time of year, my brain sometimes
spins—checking the lists twice
and that sort of thing. It can all get so complicated.
“Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom” (Matthew 18:3). Jesus spoke these words to illustrate to the disciples who would be greatest in the kingdom, but they also tell us where our hearts need to be to live the life he's called us to live.
There I was vexed about what to do next in the service (in
addition to being anxious about many other things), and a four-year-old helped
me figure it out. The simplicity of her trust and relying on what she’d been
taught in the past left her with not a drop of anxiety.
Ah, to live in that sort of
relationship with the Lord. His record of faithfulness in our lives can always be trusted, so we can give up fretting and trying to figure it
out on our own.
We might be tempted to quote
Isaiah 11:6, “ . . . a little child shall lead them.” That verse would be
taken out of context here, but I do think we can learn much from the childlike
faith of these wee ones. It helped me get a reset and let my spinning wheels slow.
If you’re stuck trying to figure
something out this Christmas season, perhaps the example of my little friend can
help you, too, find a renewed place of simple trust and reliance on the Lord. Blessings
and peace, friends.