Ash
Wednesday is next week. This Lent, I
invite you to approach Easter acting like a young child. Continue to act maturely in your job and in
your relationships. (You can’t cite me
as an excuse to hold your breath and pout the next time you have work to do.) In regards to faith, however, spend Lent with
the mindset of a young child.
I should further clarify that I’m not talking about being childlike in giving things up for
Lent. I’m reminded of one Lent, years
ago, where our children were naming items they would give up and one of our
sons proudly stated that he would give up Candy Canes until Easter. To this day, I’m not sure if he was genuinely
abstaining from one of his favorite sweets in an attempt to unite in suffering
and strive for purification as we awaited Jesus’ resurrection. Or maybe he was simply an evil genius, naming
the one snack that was guaranteed NOT to be available to tempt him throughout
spring. I may never know…I don’t think I
want to.
But I
digress. A more relevant memory is that
of any number of occasions where my children have awakened in the middle of the
night, scared from a bad dream or a loud noise.
Whether their fear stemmed from their own imagination, or something
legitimate, all it took was a hug, or a statement of “Don’t Worry”, to dissipate
their concerns and allow them to quickly return to rest. This is the example of childlike faith I challenge us to strive
to replicate during Lent.
Be not
afraid. Do not fear. There is debate as to how many times these
phrases appear in the bible under various translations, however, it is very
clear that we are instructed to FEAR NOT, time and time again throughout the
entirety of the Old and New Testament.
So now that you know your instructions, go ahead and follow them. Fear not.
Let’s take
that even a step further. Do not be
anxious about anything. “Have
no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.”
(Philippians 4:6) There you have
it. Don’t fear, and don’t even
worry. In a nutshell, be like a young
child.
For most of
us, that is a pretty tough pill to swallow.
The badge of adulthood generally comes with a continual promotion to
greater opportunities for, and levels of, stress. Stress can more broadly be looked at as
coming from responsibility, worry, anxiety, and fear. We have mortgages, tuition payments, jobs,
marriages, ice storms, professional relationships, elderly parents, killer
bees, sick loved ones, children growing up in this society, North Korean
dictators, car repairs, public speaking, and gluten everywhere. We cannot give up on our
responsibilities. We have to continue to
take care of each of those things. But
can we do so while giving up our worry and our fear?
It all comes
down to our faith. Do we trust in
God? Common answers may be
along the lines of, “Of course I trust in God!
I just want to know HOW He’s going to take care of my problem. And WHEN He’s going to take care of it. Once I know that, and it makes sense to me,
then I’ll be able to stop worrying.”
But I’m
reminded of the youngest of my kids again, coming to me with fear and anxiety. With a hug and a statement of "Don't Worry," they are satisfied. Their fear is gone. They do not ask how, or why, or when? They just trust. Take your fear and your worry to God, and
then trust that God has heard your request.
The problem may still exist in the morning, the solution may not be the
easiest, and the timing may not come according to your schedule, but TRUST
that God has heard you and is in charge, and the fear and worry that
accompanied your trial can be given over to Him. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become
like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
Have a
blessed Lent.
Matt Buehrig
Inspired by:
My Kids
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