You will rarely see my daughter without a smile on her face. She is 3 years old, and such a genuinely happy kid. Everyday when we pull into the parking lot of her preschool, she starts cheering out of excitement for her day ahead. When we are at home, she is cracking jokes, giggling, finding someone to talk to, or finding a way to entertain herself. One of my mom-friends told me on a playdate recently, “I wish I had Kaiyah’s zeal for life.” In the same week, one of her teachers said to me “Wherever Kaiyah goes, she will always find a way to have fun”. That’s my girl!
As my husband and I were talking about this and how much we admire that about her, it dawned on me: this is how God wishes his children would live- with a zeal for life; with a daily, unwavering joy.
There is such a pure innocence in Kaiyah’s joy. She isn’t burdened down by the worries of each day. She isn’t riddled with worry over the details of life. She isn’t sitting in her classroom wondering whether she is going to have a ride home, or whether she will eat lunch, or what she is going to wear the next day. She is content in her moment of life, confident that the details will be taken care of, because she trusts her parents to take care of them. She knows I’m going to pick her up, and that I’m going to get her lunch, and that I’m going to have her laundry put in her dresser. So she doesn’t carry those worries, because she knows that mom’s got it covered.
And in talking about my sweet 3 year old daughter, I felt like I had a glimpse of God’s heart for his children.
The Bible says things like-
‘Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ‘ Mark 10:15 NIV
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”’ Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ‘ 1 Peter 5:7 NIV
‘ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:25-34 NIV
What does this practically look like? The joy of a 3 year old little girl.
God’s desire isn’t that we are carrying the burdens of life around with us, weighing us down. His desire is that we trust Him so much, that we have the freedom to have joy in any circumstance– a zeal for life.
In fact, when we operate in this way- casting our cares onto him, we are saying to Him- “God- I trust that you are going to take care of all of my needs. I will not fear things that I cannot control, because I know that my life is in your hands.” What if we had the same joy of a child who has full and complete trust and dependency on their parents to meet every need, and carry every burden?
Most of the time, the thought of being “childish” is an insult. But in the kingdom, everything is backwards. “Child-like” faith honors God. Leave it to God to help me continue to learn more about Him from my 3 year old daughter.
