II was on an airplane
flight to CT and I overheard a conversation in the seats behind me. Okay,
I eavesdropped on the conversation behind me. All right! In any case,
there was this little boy flying with his Dad and he was full of
questions...the little boy that is. He said, "Daddy, what are all those
lights for? Daddy, why did part of the wing go down? Daddy, why is it
called Lake Erie?" See, the pilot told us the name of it, but he didn't
necessarily tell us why.
Most of the flight Dad just patiently answered each question. It was a
great sound to hear!
What I especially noticed was the reaction of the boy to the answers that
his Dad gave. Some of them, he obviously understood, and others he
obviously didn't. His Dad said, "Now, do you understand that?" "Well, no."
I liked the one about how air holds up the plane. Of course I don't
understand that, so how could a little boy be expected to? But each time,
no matter whether he understood the answer or not he always, like seemed
satisfied with the answer.
Matthew 18:1-4. tells us, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and
asked, 'Who's the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?' He called a little
child and had him stand among them and He said, 'I'll tell you the truth,
unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is
the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.'"
Well, you know, for some strange reason, this passage came to my mind on
that airplane flight when I heard a curious little boy asking his Daddy
questions. He knew whom to ask, he knew where to go for answers, and he
believed what his Father told him. Even when he didn't understand the
answer he got, he was satisfied with his Daddy's answers.
How about you and me? Jesus said we need to be like a little child in
order to be in His kingdom. Are you satisfied with your Daddy's answers?
I'm talking now about your Heavenly Father, of course. Jesus said our
faith had to be childlike. And that means, "I will see what my Father has
to say about this and then I'll be satisfied. I may not understand my
Father's answers, but I'll be satisfied because I trust Him."
Maybe you've prayed and you've said, "I'm not getting any answer to my
prayer." Well, actually, every prayer is answered. God says, "Call unto Me
and I will answer you." And He's answering; maybe not in the way you want
it; not in the time that you wanted. Could you settle back in your seat
and relax in the answer that He's been giving?
Maybe God's Word speaks about the situation you're in right now or the
choice you have to make. And it's pretty clear what you ought to do. But
it goes against what you're feeling, or it's going against what your
family, or your friends, or the conventional wisdom or our culture's
telling you to do. Would you trust what your Father says and act on His
answer?
See, you and I are still like that little boy, no matter how old we are.
We're full of questions about "Why God?", and "God, how come...?", and
"Father, when is it going to be?", and "Who?" I just hope you'll be like
that boy in another way. When your Father gives an answer, you will be
satisfied with Daddy's answers.
See you in Church,
Rev. Chuck Behrens
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