Show Me Your Glory

Bedtime brings out what is really on the hearts and in the minds of my children.  They know they can’t do the things that they really want to do but they aren’t quite ready for sleeping yet so why not talk to mom.  Last night I noticed that my oldest son was kind of sad.  I sat down, it was quiet for a few minutes and he asked, “Mom, is God real?” 
 

Oh!  I thought.  I was honestly not sure where to go with the question because he knows I think God is real.  I sat and prayed for wisdom and words for a second and in that second he began to talk some more.  As I listened I prayed that God would show me the heart of my son.  And as God always does He rescued me.

 

By listening to my son and not rushing in to prove my case for God I heard the real questions.  “If God is real why are bad things happening to me?  Why is life so hard?”  I seen his heart and entered into his pain.  I sat with him and prayed.  We cuddled and he kept talking, “Does it mean that I am bad momma because I wonder if God is real?  It should be bad, right?” 

 

This poor little boy, my heart was breaking with his pain.  I wanted to just scoop him up and make things all better, but I couldn’t.  His heart was broken and that 9-year-old little heart and mind were wondering where is God in all of this and then he thinks he is bad because he wonders. 

 
AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I sat praying over him.  Begging God to show me His glory and for it to be in my boy. 

 Over the last year there has been a lot of pain and uncertainty for our family.  I haven’t been able to protect and shelter my kids from it all.  They are feeling it heavier than any mom wants their kids to.  In all this pain the hope that keeps me going is that God’s glory will be seen.  My prayer at this point was “Really God, come on!  I want to see your glory in my kids lives not just those around us.  Please, in all we have been through together, help this boy to know you more, not wonder where you are and if you are real!” 

 

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Matthew 7:7

I encouraged my son to ask, seek, and knock.  I told him that if he asked God and really sought after Him, God would open the door and show him what he was looking for.  We prayed together and when we were done I asked my son to tell me what he knew of God’s creation because the Bible tells us that there is evidence of the Creator in His creation. 

 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”      Romans 1:20 

 

My son started telling me about all the animals from his nature movies.  He explained how God had created each one perfectly to live in its environment.  How water birds had special feathers that make the water bead up on their wings so they don’t get wet.  Beavers too, have fur that doesn’t get wet like the birds feathers.  Toads have poison in their warts that make predators sick.  Butterflies and birds know to migrate and where to go without ever being taught, they just know. 

He went on and on for about 15 minutes and with each animal he got more and more detailed and excited.  By the time he went to bed he was telling me how God created everything perfectly.  God showed me that my boy was feeling a little sad and needed a pick me up like I do when I get sad.  When I get down I have to sit for about 15 minutes and remind myself of who God is, His character, and who I am in Him.  God also answered my prayer; He showed me His glory in my son. 

God wants us to see.  He wanted me to see.  The question is, are we patient enough to be quiet and listen.  If I would have rushed in defending God (who does not need my defending:), and freaked out that my son didn’t believe in God I would have missed God’s glory.  Where is God asking you to be quiet and listen so that He can show you His glory? 

 

Just A Little Extra:  Just for fun I thought I would share with you my younger son and daughter’s response when my son asked them if they thought God was real. 

My daughter said, “Yeah, He’s real.  He took Enoch and Elijah up to heaven and they didn’t have to die.  How else would that have happened?”  She was very matter of fact, like why would you need to know anything else.  She is 6 and I found it quite hilarious. 

 My son said, “Yes, God is real!  Bad things happen because of Adam and Eve.  We make bad choices but God still loves us.  Jesus died for us while we were still sinners.  Of course God is real.”  He actually kept going for a while, I think with every Bible verse he has memorized.  We would have gotten a full sermon if I hadn’t stopped him.