I just want you to be my child!

Mark 10:15 NIV - I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

(Summer 06) I was deep into Savage Gulf on a warm sunny summer afternoon in order to be alone with the Lord. Savage Gulf is a spectacular wilderness area with high overlooks, rugged cliffs, mysterious underground rivers, and majestic forests. After reaching Horsepound Falls, I took off my shoes and shirt, unwrapped my lunch, and opened my Bible. I treated myself to a generous helping of Psalms and Isaiah. The sun was warm, and the babbling stream provided peaceful background music. I put down my Bible several times in order to wade in the shallow water. A kingfisher made occasional passes over the stream. Two tiny hummingbirds perched on a rock for a drink! Dragonfly wings glittered in the sunlight. Do you think the Lord minded that my attention occasionally wandered from my Bible to watch these playful creatures? I don't think so! Rather, I think He speaks His love to me through the natural world. I was not merely seeking the Lord this day. I was seeking His face. This is the poetic Hebrew expression that means "to know Him intimately and dearly."

Your face, Lord, will I seek (Ps 27:8b NIV)

The Lord is gentle, fair, honest, sensitive, patient, encouraging, truthful, and forgiving. His Word is full of loving truths. What an intimate time I had that afternoon! When it was finally time to leave, I felt undeserving of such a blessing. After all, my life consists mostly of routine things like earning the paycheck, maintaining the house and car, and trying to balance the fragile relationships in our family. It's a small package. And I'm not sure I do it very well. I will never accomplish much for the Kingdom. So I sighed in disappointment,

"I feel like a failure. Here I am 55 years old, and I'm not doing anything important for you."

Tears filled my eyes as the Lord assured me,

You are doing the important thing! You're just being my child.

At a later time the Holy Spirit asked me,

God loves being your Father! Do you love being His child?

A friend later said, "Sometimes a role we play in life becomes our identity. Our world comes to revolve around this part of our life. This can make us feel pretty good about ourselves. SuperMom, world's best Dad, successful career person, popular pastor, well-known writer, beloved teacher, computer whiz. These can all be good roles to play - or they can hinder our growth and lead to our downfall. When we start thinking about the role we play as our main identity in life - who we are - we can lose our focus on Jesus and his plan for us - and pride can set in. As Christians, we all have the same innate identity as followers of Christ. We are his children. That's our main identity. That's who we are. And nothing could be better! (Connie Heath, Sep 2007)