like a child
The summer bible studies started up today at our church…. it is sad… I was trying my best to believe that I was SOO excited that they were beginning because I was THIRSTING for His word and NOT because of the free child-care for two hours and time ALONE with other women…. but deep down I was excited for an outing. However… God’s word NEVER returns void and this morning was truly a blessing. We heard testimonies from different women… it was very moving to see God at work in their lives. However… I was particularly touched by something one woman said… and it really wasn’t what her talk was about.. just something she mentioned in passing….”I wish I had listened to people when they had talked about parenting…..I understand NOW what they were talking about…. I wish I had of adhered to their advice sooner…” I thought… I don’t want to be like that…. I want to learn how to be a Godly woman and a Godly parent….And all of this got me thinking about a “teachable spirit”. Do I have a spirit of “teach-ability”?
There are so many lessons that I find later people had taught me….I chose to learn them the hard way… on my own. I mean… who wants advice? Who wants to think they DON’T know how to do something….who wants to ask for help? Who wants others to know they are weak….and helpless… and literally a MESS! No One. That is… we are taught that we shouldn’t need help… we are taught to be self sufficient….and in my walk through God’s word… I am beginning to understand all the more the meaning of 1 Corinthians 1:20…
“where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
See… in Christianity… self-sufficiency is flipped upside down. We are only self-sufficient in our reliance upon Christ. His GRACE is our sufficiency (2 Cor. 12:9)—not ourselves…not by our own wisdom and knowledge… nothing from this world. As I searched an online bible concordance the phrase “teachable spirit”… this is the only verse that popped up… and so fitting for me now, as a mother:
“He called a little child and had him stand among them. and he said, “I 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.” Matthew 18:2-4
I can now see my precious little children’s faces looking at me. Always watching… always absorbing everything that flows out of my mouth….mimicking my every gesture…. CONSTANTLY learning…. and listening. Today Will wanted so desperately to write a note to his daddy that said, “I love you”. Such a simple little phrase, yet very difficult for him to write… but the desire was there. For awhile we struggled… I would help him hold the pen and he would fight me… “Stop mommy… let ME DO IT!” I watched to paper fill with mangled lines and scribble. Finally he turned to me…”Mommy will you show me how to write an “L”?” Gladly we worked on that little message.
What humility for him to surrender to my instruction…I most certainly saw myself in his struggle. What humility it takes to surrender to the work Christ LONGS to do in our lives. I want that kind of humility…..there is no other way around it. I need Christ. Will wanted to write and there was no way He was going to get that accomplished except through my help…. We’ve got to become little children. I praise the Lord for giving me the gift of children…. I have learned SO MUCH from them. Perhaps that’s why we are called to look to them as examples.
Unless you change……Praise the Lord that He is the God of second chances… the Redeemer… the Creator….making all things new…..we have the ability to change! what a gift! I want to embrace advice bestowed to me through His word… I want to accept the knowledge of my elders around me…. I don’t want to learn things the “hard way”. I want to change and become like MY little children and embrace, absorb, listen, and learn from my Christ EVERYTHING He longs to teach me. Drop self-sufficiency and be adorned in reliance upon our Savior. Pray for wise people in your life that will speak truth to you… surround yourself with Godly peers… and pray. God LOVES you….He wants to teach you and grow you closer to Him…but we must surrender to our need for Him and “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10) I want to be lifted up from my failures in parenting… I want to be uplifted in encouragement….these are promises of God. It is my prayer today that we drop all pretenses and humble ourselves… we become real with people…. I started this blog four months ago because I wanted people to know that it’s OK to be a mess….it’s ok to mess up…. we can change… Christ will NOT let us go… like the Good Shepherd that He is… even when we try to escape His clasp… He leaves the 99 sheep and goes in search of his 1. This is the Lord whom we serve. May ALL of us begin today in humility acquiring a teachable spirit…..Lord, help us change and become like our precious children…..with gentle hearts, innocent eyes and open ears…may we “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]” (Philippians 3:13).
