As I have often said on this site—God is teaching me so much through Charisse right now…and I am beginning to see why Jesus instructed us to have faith like children. I began to wonder the other day—what would my relationship with God and others look like if I approached it like she approaches her relationship with me?
#1 - I Would Have Less Stress In My Life!
One of the most difficult passages on Scripture for me to read and apply is Matthew 6:25! (Did I hear an Amen?) We all worry—but…
My daughter, when I’m holding her—doesn’t worry about a thing. She isn’t afraid when I throw her up in the air because she knows I will catch her.
WOW—what if I continually trusted God like that? What if I knew, that no matter what happened, He would always be there to catch me?
#2 - I Would Have More Joy!
Whenever I walk into her room to wake her up in the mornings she always greets me with a smile—ALWAYS. AND…sometimes she even begins to laugh and does a swimming motion with her arms and legs…it’s really quite a sight to see. My point it—she ALWAYS has joy!
What if I were like that? What if I always had joy in the presence of God? I have discovered that we either are full of joy in His presence—OR—we try to hide from Him. (There is a story in the Bible about that!)
What if I truly recognized who He is—that He is holy and that every intention He has for me is ultimately going to be made beautiful in His time? (Ecclesiastes 3:11) The result—joy—which according to Nehemiah 8:10 is my strength!
By the way—EVERY father loves to see their child smile!!!
#3 - I Would Be More Forgiving!
One of the things that I have to be very careful of is having a negative and bitter attitude towards other people…it’s hard, isn’t it?!?!?!
BUT Charisse—she is very quick to forgive. Recently she had a pretty bad cold and, as a result, have an abundance of snot just flowing out of her little nose.
I discovered something during that time—she DOES NOT enjoy having her nose wiped!!! Talk about a meltdown! Seriously—she would scream and kick her little arms and legs—but, usually after about three seconds after the “torture” was over—she was all smiles and giggles again.
What if I were more like that? What if, whenever someone hurt me, I did acknowledge the pain, but then I moved on and didn’t always bring it up—either to them or to others? I would be a better person, we all would! (Ephesians 4:32)
#4 - I Would Not Fear Losing God’s Love
Something I’ve always wrestled with since becoming a Christian is that how can God love me—even when I mess up.
BUT—this past Sunday He taught me an unforgettable lesson. I was holding Charisse in the air and laughing when…she threw up—IN MY MOUTH! Seriously—it was gross. I almost gagged—in fact, I am about to gag right now just blogging about it.
BUT—when the projectile vomit had passed—I began to laugh out loud, and so did she (and so did ‘Cretia!) She didn’t fear for one second that, just because she vomited on me, that I was going to stop loving her! One thing about my little girl—she does not fear my love—she knows it’s unconditional.
What if I were like that? Would it impact the way I live? Would I be more real with God instead of feeling like at times I need to perform for Him. Scripture says in Romans 8:38-39 that we can NEVER be separated from His love—and I think I am beginning to finally understand that more and more.