I 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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