Because I Said So

I’m astonished at how much Gracie has to simply “take my word for it” in life. I’m further astonished at how much she actually does “take my word for it”. For example, she has to take my word for it that she cannot actually touch the sun. She has to take my word for it that she won’t ever be a little baby again (she constantly says “One day, when I’m a little baby again, I’ll…). She had to take my word for it that the automated gorilla’s in the Rainforest Café at Yorkdale mall weren’t actually dangerous (although I’m not quite sure she fully believed this).

It’s a precious stage of life when you have the ability to accept so much so completely, and I think it’s one stage of life God has intended us to recapture. Consider Santa Claus, the boogy man and the tooth fairy. Children have the ability to believe so absolutely in something they can’t see that it modifies their decisions significantly. I wonder if it isn’t one of the traits of 6 year olds we were meant to hold on to.

Consider some of the things about which God as effectively said “take my word for it”. We are not alone (Romans 8:38-39). Everything we need for our next step is already available to us right now (2 Peter 1:3-9). Some of the smallest and most unexpected things in your life may turn out to have the greatest possibility (Matthew 13:31). And God has hidden the secrets of His Kingdom in some of the least likely people (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). Can you take His word for any of that?

Fear is a tacit denial of many of the things God has said. So is stress, anxiety, worry, bitterness and envy. All of it assumes a level of injustice or aloneness or hopelessness that contradicts what He’s said. Gracie is at the place in life where she can take great comfort from the things I tell her – without ever needing to know anything else about it. It’s just enough for her to take my word for it.

Are you at the place in life where you’re ready to believe like that again? It’s one of the secret hidden powers of 6 year olds.

Something to think about.

Have a great week,

Chris