Out of the mouths of babes

"Jesus, stop it!" my three-year-old niece exclaimed, as she sat down to a picnic at the local park on Monday. And again, "C'mon, Jesus, stop it!"

It took me a minute to understand what she was shouting about, in all her three-year-old, pig-tailed glory. It was the wind. She was quite simply, asking Jesus to keep the wind out of her face so she could eat her corn dog. I'm not kidding.

Now I'm going to ask you a question that will really tax your brain: does Jesus care if the wind happens to be keeping her from eating her corn dog? And how might he respond, if a little person who believes in him so implicitly blurts out a request like this? According to my niece, he stopped the wind when asked. And no offense to the skeptical among you, but I'm totally buying it.

How do I handle it when the wind prevents me from eating a corn dog? I suppose I move so I'm facing against the wind and it blows my hair backward. Perfectly practical, right? But that's an adult answer. Kids tend to step into situations without problem solving skills. And sometimes when they need a little help from Jesus, they just ask for it, no holds barred. Wouldn't you love to live like this?

But her spiritual convictions run even deeper, believe it or not. Our family's three-year-old really likes to talk about her Grandpa, whom she would snuggle with on his hospice bed, before he died from cancer a year ago. And she talks about heaven and how Grandpa somehow doesn't hurt anymore and doesn't need any medicine. And she's really pretty excited about going there and seeing him again. I believe she'd go right now if she could.

So when I asked her if there's anything to worry about when going to heaven, she smiled so sweetly, and said "No. 'Cause Jesus loves ya!" And this is the ultimate answer to every question, of course, if you can simply have the faith of a child.

What will happen if cancer takes my life or makes me waste away in unproductivity? It will be OK somehow, because Jesus loves ya. What will happen if my husband loses his job and our income and health insurance? It will somehow be OK, because Jesus loves ya. And what if I screw up and make bad choices that scar my children or loved ones forever? Even in this, you can turn to Jesus, because he loves ya.

It's simplistic, yes, but I do believe the simplest things are the truest. If we can move past our baggage, see the subtext when chaos is all around us, believe that Jesus is weaving something beautiful despite the knots on the underbelly of our lives, we can be secure, safe in anything that comes.

If you're not there now, and it certainly can be a journey, you can get there to understanding and receiving his love. For me, it took counseling, depression, and plenty of tears. For you it might take seeing God's goodness shine through in the midst of loss. Occasionally, we even find God's goodness through joy that unexpectedly bursts into our lives.

But when you grasp this simple truth, that God can't help but be good, that he's redeeming the ugliest things in life for ultimate good, you can rest.

Because Jesus loves ya. 

"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 18:3-4