I wasn’t mentally prepared for it. For me, right at this moment, it should still be summer. How have we already arrived in November? With Thanksgiving happening next week? And Black Friday?
I’m not ready!!!!
I’m not.
I’m not mentally prepared for this season, for the cold, for the approaching winter, for the wind, for the chill, for the ice, for the snow.
Snow.
I’m not ready for the snow!
Don’t get me wrong…I enjoy the snow (on occasion). I like a nice snowball fight. I enjoy a good snow angel. Building a snowman? Great fun! Sledding? My favorite. I enjoy the way that freshly fallen snow makes everything look clean and new. There are lots of things to appreciate about snow, and I’m not knocking it. Still, I’m not ready. In my mind, it should still be summer. I’m not mentally prepared for snow.
And yet…
The snow still comes.
Snow doesn’t ask me if I’m ready for it. Nobody consults me as to whether or not I’m mentally prepared. When it’s time for the snow to come, guess what happens? It comes! There is absolutely no regard for how I might feel about the situation. It just comes…when, where and how it wants.
The snow comes.
When things come, like snow, even when they come and we’re not ready, even when they come and we do not want them to come, guess what?
WE STILL HAVE A CHOICE!
WE STILL HAVE A CHOICE WITH HOW WE RESPOND!
Sure, I don’t get to choose whether or not it will snow. There are lots of things that happen in life which are completely outside of my control, lots of situations where nobody has asked my opinion, lots of times that things don’t go just how I want them, just when I want them, just where I want them. The fact remains. I still have a choice with how I respond. When the snow falls, what will be my reaction? How will I choose to react to a situation that I did not want in that moment? What will I do…even when I don’t like what is happening around me? That’s one of the tough questions when life throws a wrench into my plans…how will I respond? How will I react? What choice will I make with my attitude? With my behavior?
Yesterday, it snowed.
Not a lot, but it still snowed.
My response? Mediocre.
I wasn’t super upset about it. I didn’t get cranky (I hope!). I just kind of continued about my evening, doing those things that I had already been doing inside. The snow didn’t significantly alter my evening or my agenda. I had just kind of a blah, mediocre response to the snow.
Silas?
His response was glorious!
His eyes got wide as he exclaimed, “IT’S SNOWING!!!!!”
The next thing you knew, he was out the door, thoroughly enjoying every little bit of snow that was falling. Snowballs were flying. Laughter was had. Silas was going to enjoy this blessing from the Lord in the best way possible.
Silas had an absolutely great response to the snow. Wide-eyed joy. Uninhibited celebration. Complete and thorough excitement.
I have to tell you. I missed out.
I missed out.
The work could have waited. The project that I was trying to accomplish could have been paused. Silas acted rightly! I, however, missed out.
Today, as I type, the snow is gone. Came and left. Didn’t stick around. I’m not super upset about that, but I am disappointed that I missed out on a memory, that I passed by an opportunity, that I missed out on the snow. I should have gone and made snowballs with Silas’ name written right on them. Instead, I missed out.
There’s a teaching of Jesus that is found in the Gospel of Matthew. This is what happens:
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
~ Matthew 18:1-3
Become like little children.
On the surface, it doesn’t sound like great advice. If someone is immature, we call them “childish”. If someone shirks their responsibility, we tell them to “quit behaving like a child”. Become like little children? It has a funny ring to it. It doesn’t sound quite right.
First things first, let’s take away the negativity of the term “childlike.” Sure, there are times when we need to be grownups. We have responsibilities. We can’t just act “childish” all of the time. Even Paul talks about putting away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11). Still, there is room for being childlike, childish, even becoming a child as an adult. Jesus says so in this passage. “Childish” is not always a negative term. It is OK to respond like a child in some circumstances. Scratch that. In some circumstances it is better to respond as a child. Childish is not always bad. Sometimes, it is better. Right in this passage, being a child in terms of humility is better than acting prideful and like an adult. Childish is not always bad!
So, now that we have that out of the way, let’s consider one positive aspect of being “childish” and when it might be appropriate. Joyful response.
Have you seen a child react to someone they love? A parent getting off of a plane after a long journey? A trip to see their best friend who had been away for a long time? The return of a pet who had been lost for a while? How do they respond?
Joyfully, gleefully. There’s laughter. There are tears. There’s running and yelling and hugging and shouting and celebration. There is joy. Great joy.
What would it be like if we responded to Jesus in this way? If we approached our relationship with God with joy? If we looked forward to the kingdom of heaven in this way? Joyfully anticipating the kingdom of God?
Too often, I fear that I approach my overall relationship with Jesus like an adult…which isn’t all bad in all occasions, but I do risk missing out on the joy, on running to Jesus with complete abandon, of being so excited that the Risen King has welcomed me into the family. Sometimes, I view God as “authority” or “ruler” or “judge” or “_____” so much that I miss out on the joy. Instead, I know that what I really need is a joyful response to Jesus. I need to be able to run to Jesus with joy. I need to be able to get excited about what God has offered me, and I need to be able to respond in a “childish” way to Jesus. In humility with joy and excitement.
The same is true in broader aspects of my life as well.
Sometimes, when it snows, when the unexpected happens to thwart my plans for the day, it would be beneficial to react like a child. To go with the flow, to embrace what has happened, and yes, to make snowballs. When the snow falls? Make snowballs! Lemonade out of lemons kind of a deal. Be excited about what God is doing in my life, even if God didn’t ask my opinion about it. Get excited about the snow!
Silas isn’t really a child any longer. He’s turning into a young man. Still, he has held onto some things that I hope he never loses, particularly in the way he responded to the snow. Such joy! Such love! Such laughter!
Such an example.
Friend, it will snow. There is no doubt. Snow will fall whether I’m prepared for it or not.
My hope?
That I would be childish, that I would see the snow as a blessing, that I would make snowballs and laugh and have fun with what God has provided. I also hope to be more childish in my relationship with Jesus. To have humility, to have excitement, to have unreserved and uninhibited joy.
~ Pastor Chris
