Dear God, Pray for Murphy

“Dear God, pray for Murphy!” Gracie (my 5-year-old niece) piped in from the back seat of Kierra’s minivan. With 5 children (10, 7, 5, 29 months, and 19 months old), my sister was to her breaking point and cried out, “Dear God, pray for Mercy!” And in Gracie’s angelic, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, sweet-as-pie, you-want-to-eat-her-up voice, she asked God for Murphy. Ah, the innocence of a child! Mark 10:15 tells us, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Gulp. He said “truly”. He means business. True, true, we all have heard that we must “have the faith of a child” but what does that really mean? Must we not think beyond the simplicity of things? Should we only go as deep as saying, “I believe in God” and not go beyond? No, of course not.

I love analogies. I crave them like a gooey, fudgy piece of chocolate cake. I use them constantly to get my point across. And I’m happy that God uses them, too. God’s creative that way. My simple mind can wrap itself around an analogy better than—well—than simply reading it in the Bible. He gives us human relationships to understand our relationship to Him, parallels to Truth that we should have gotten a long time ago but are too hard headed, academic, or naïve to understand.

And so, I think of children, particularly my 13 nieces and nephews ages 10 and under. They constantly (incessantly, impatiently, pleadingly ask), “When are we eating? Why are you doing that Wissa? I want more milk! But WHY? What are we doing? Do I have to? When do I get to open my present? When are we going to be there?” The questions could go on, and on, and on, and…oh, you get the point. They never stop! If I mention a treat or good thing to come, they never forget. I remember being a kid. Everything was new. Things were confusing. Adults just told me what to do, where to go, and when to be there. They just said, “Because I said so,” or, “You just have to trust me,” or, “I’ll explain it when you’re older.” And I trusted them…that my parents and other adults in my life were going to take care of me. I didn’t question whether or not there would be food for me to eat. I didn’t worry about tomorrow. I didn’t fret. But I did ask. Incessantly. Repeatedly. Unafraid. I didn’t always get an answer but trusted that they knew best. And then I became an adult… Welcome to the realm of overanalyzing, impatience, and trying to do it my way…

It carries over into my relationship with God. I am no longer a child and think I can do it on my own. And I incessantly ask, “Why me God? Why NOT me God? What’s next? What’s going to happen? What should I do? But it’s a good thing, so why do I have to wait for it?” Yes, we have the incessant question asking, but we approach it with adult eyes. We demand. We don’t trust. We don’t fall under the safety of Him. We don’t rely on God. We don’t just accept that He’s bigger. He’s wiser. He’s in control. We ask and then try to manipulate. We constantly try and wrest control from Him.

And then I babysit my nieces and nephews. Hunter wants me to explain organic chemistry and physics. It’s complicated. Very, very complicated. I try to break it down into its simplest form, but it’s so complex (and he lacks the right background information) that it’s nearly impossible to help an 8-year-old understand. And in the end, I smile sweetly and say, “You’ll understand when you’re older. It’s just too complicated right now…” Or Summer wants to know where I went on my last trip and what I did. She has no concept of where Boston is or what Global Health Initiatives are at Yale University…so I give her to bare minimum to answer her question without overwhelming her. And I bet you $1 million that God just looks at us and says, “I know best. It’s too complicated for you to understand. You just have to trust me…”

But thankfully God looks down at us adoringly. He gently pats me on the head and said, “Because…” He sweetly, patiently, and firmly says, “Just trust me…I know what’s best. You can’t understand it yet, but someday you will.”

Yeah, I want to be like a kid again. I want to simply trust, innocently approach Him, and stop sweating the details. I can learn something from a 5-year-old. Yes Lord, pray for Murphy.