Wholeness Ministries
www.wholeness.org
www.wholeness.org
When It's Okay To Be A Child Part 2 of 3
Doorway Into Relationship
Children are open, trusting, authentic, honest, uninhibited in their expressions, and spontaneous in their emotions. Why is it so important to be as a child? Brennan Manning's writes, " The positive qualities of a child are openness, trusting dependence, playfulness, simplicity and sensitivity to feelings." The unself-consciousness of the child keeps us from morbid introspection, endless self-analysis, and the fatal narcissism of spiritual
perfectionism."
When we rediscover that we are, "the beloved," we can, "preserve this childlike innocence. We can refuse to be intimidated and contaminated by peers." Our peers are often those people in our lives that prevent us from being real. They may intimidate us with their athletic prowess, intellectual achievements, and artistic talents. These are the peers "Whose lives are spent not in living but in courting applause and admiration; not blissfully being themselves but in neurotically comparing and competing, striving for those empty things called success and fame even if they can be attained only at the expense of defeating, humiliating, destroying their neighbors."
Until we break out of the mold created by the expectations of others, we will not become childlike in our wonder of God's creation nor will we sense an awe of God our creator. Neither will we grasp what God has done for us personally. Tozer eloquently says, "For me prophet wrote and psalmist sang. For me holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. For me Christ died and the redemptive benefits of that death are by the miracle of His present life perpetuated forever, as efficacious now as on the day He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. And when He arose the third day it was for me; and when He poured out upon the disciples the promised Holy Spirit it was that He might continue in me the work He had been doing for me since the morning of the creation."
Unless you think becoming like a child is an end in itself, rest assured that it's more like a doorway, to our union with God. It's going deep emotionally, being sensitive, being spiritually connected, knowing that we are His beloved, and are being held by Him. Frederick Buechner writes, "We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us, not because we have deserved his love and not in spite of our undeserving: not because we try and not because we recognize the futility of our trying; but simply because he has chosen to love us."
A part of what keeps us from this childlikeness is failing to understand the Father's love for us. "The Father God loves you as much as He loves His Son Jesus!" That's hard for us to comprehend since we see ourselves as weak sinners, full of evil, ugly things. When ministering at a maximum-security prison, I gave an invitation for the men to open their hearts to receive Jesus' forgiveness of their sins and accept Him as Lord of their lives. Some of them responded, and later as I was talking to one of the prisoners I noticed another prisoner tentatively making his way up the aisle towards me. As he neared where I was standing he reached out and tugged at my shirtsleeve. I turned around and he
said, "Can I ask you a question?" I replied, "Of course." He asked, "When Jesus forgave me of my sins did He forgive me of all of them?" I said, "Yes." "You mean all of them?" "Yes." Slowly shaking his head in disbelief as he turned to walk away, I heard him say, "Wow, all of them!" He could not believe that Jesus had forgiven him of all of his sins. For him, this was an experience of the Father's agape love--unconditional acceptance and forgiveness demonstrated in Christ's death for us. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
Agape love is a foundational truth among Christians. There's another part of the Father's love that adults often find difficult to receive. That's His Phileo or "demonstrated tender affection for us." Isaiah says, "He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart, He gently leads those that have young" (Isaiah 40:11). The focus is more on a touch from God, on feelings. Women seem to easily be able to "get in touch" and express their feelings, but men have a more difficult time expressing our feelings. We may think it's "unmanly" to show feelings or feel "warm fuzzies." Sometimes our feelings are shut down because of things that have happened to us. Regrettably we also find it difficult to "feel" the love of our Father God. Those emotions were created as a part of our basic makeup, but unfortunately this "emotional" touch of love is missing from many Christian's lives. We need affectionate touch, affirming words, the blessing of the Father.
Central to receiving affection is a heart turned toward God in childlike trust. "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (I Samuel 16:7).What does God see when He looks at your heart? The heart is not only the center of our physical life but the
center of the spiritual nature of man. It is the center of powerful emotions, enthusiasm and sexual desire. When we do something gladly, willingly and with determination it is done "From the heart." It is common for us to express appreciation for musicians or athletes when we say, "He played his heart out!" The heart is also described as the seat of love and hatred, of feelings and affections that can range from joy to absolute terror. What passion do you have for God? Do you delight in spending time with Him, to weep with Him, to laugh with Him? Many of us are like a frightened little boy, afraid that he'll be found out, rather than a child delighted to run and jump in his Father's arms. What a joy it is to laugh and dance consumed by His love. When we can be childlike in our hearts we understand that it's okay to feel and express emotion. To cry, laugh, and dance are all ways of expressing what is in your heart for God.
We also need to know the human Jesus. We can become so focused on his divinity that we can miss his humanity. In John we read: "The disciple Jesus loved was reclining next to JesusHe leaned back on Jesus' breast" (John 13:23,25). This is a scene we can rush past, but something profound is happening here. John is getting in touch with Jesus in a way that goes beyond cognitive knowledge. He is leaning his head on the heart of God. "God allows a young Jew, reclining in the rags of his twenty-odd years, to listen to His heartbeat!" In our effort to understand and know God, to read about Jesus and his works, we tragically can overlook the love of Jesus-- a love which we "feel" and testifies that that "God is Love."
Next month we will learn what it's like to be adopted by God.
Wholeness ministries offers a weekly School of Healing Prayer, individual prayer by appointment, numerous resources on both audio and videotape as well as our book "Learning To do What Jesus Did."
For more information please contact:
Rev. Mike Evans
4301 Stine Rd. Suite H
Bakersfield CA
USA 93313
661-833-2920
Fax 661-833-2934
mevans@wholeness.org
www.wholeness.org
