Out of the Mouths of Children. . .

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting some of my dearest friends, Holly and Jason Groe. While visiting, I was able to spend some great one on one time with their daughter, Jayden. During our coloring time, she asked me if I would be able to come back in September. Gulp, swallow, breath. Sometimes even the timing of short trips makes it so hard when we miss family events, or special occasions. It always tugs at my heart to tell a child "No" in these situations. But, we aren't here to serve ourselves- even family must take second place to God's plan.

I explained to her that I would not be able to go because I would be on a mission trip to India during most of September. She proceeded to ask a lot of questions about India and why I was going. I answered the "how long is the flight" (thank goodness for Google), "what time is it there" (again, Google is my new best friend), and a few other four year old questions. . .

Her final question was this, "Are you scaarrreed?" asked with big eyes and her best scared face. "No Jayden, I believe that God will protect us during this trip." Silence for a minute. Then she replied in the sweetest Southern drawl and huge blue eyes, "But, Ms. Ivy, sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes He really doesn’t."

I simply replied to her, Jayden, “I believe that God will protect each person who is going. But, should he choose to not physically protect us, I know he had a reason.” At this point, her four year old self can't sit much longer . . . she bounces off to play.

Two things stood out about this conversation- how often do we let fear stop us from serving HIM? And, how often do we fail to realize that our situation is for God’s glory? Jayden in her innocence still understands that God does choose to not always protect us from what we consider “harmful situations.” Maybe he doesn’t heal the cancer; maybe he doesn’t stop the accident; maybe you are the Christian who is beaten for sharing. He chooses that path for our lives for many reasons. Often it is to refine and change our hearts while, ultimately, making us more like Him. Often it is to impact someone’s life for Christ.

Back to the first question, how often do we let fear stop us from serving HIM? How do we let fear keep us from going to serve? How often do we let fear keep us from asking our coworker do they know Christ? It is not only about going to a foreign country, we need people to pray and support missionaries- people that God may never send out of the United States. But, we also need people to step it up for Christ here in the United States. People are dying and going to hell. What are you doing about it?