Gospel Reminder From a 3 Year Old

Last week Jon and I had the privilege of babysitting one of my favourite kids in the world for 5 nights while his Mom was out of town - our godson, Nikolai. It was awesome and we had lots of fun, but by the last evening he was with us, I found myself exhausted. My normal quiet time routine of Bible reading and prayer had been almost non-existent for a few days, I was sleep deprived, feeling overwhelmed with the dishes piled high in the sink and laundry overflowing, thinking about another week of work beginning, and fighting off a migraine all at the same time. So, last Sunday afternoon, I was dragging myself around the kitchen trying to keep going with cleaning up and making dinner while Niko played on the floor with his cars (crashing them a little too loud for my migraine's liking!). All of a sudden, Niko looked up from playing and said, "Auntie Mel, are you happy?" I was a bit surprised by the question, and realized that I probably didn't look too happy as I shuffled around the kitchen with my head pounding, just wishing I could go to sleep, so I sighed and said, "O buddy, I should be, shouldn't I?" His response just about blew me away: "Don't worry Auntie Mel. I still love you. And God loves you." I dropped everything I was doing and spun around to look at him. I felt like crying and laughing at the same time! I went over and took his little face in my hands and thanked him for preaching the gospel to me (I'm sure he didn't understand all I was gushing to him in my emotion! haha). But I squeezed his little cheeks and said, "Yes, God loves me! Even when I'm grumpy - all the time! And that's such good news isn't it? Thanks for reminding me of that! That good news should make us so happy, shouldn't it bud?!" He looked at me like I was a little crazy and went back to playing cars, but I was blown away. Niko's question and following comment helped pull me back to what was most important in the midst of my self-focus.

Yet, I am sure that later that night I got distracted with insignificant things again, and failed to give glory to God moment by moment.  As Gloria Furman says in her book "Glimpses of Grace" that I am reading right now:

Oh how I would love to dwell on the great magnitude of the glory of God all day long. I would love for my soul to believe on the precious promises of God at all times. But the reality is that we live in a fallen world, and we are, indeed, still sinners. The centrality of "me" in our lives takes precedence over meditating on the grandeur of the Holy One... Walking with God in a world like this one can feel so complicated sometimes...

Seeing the brilliance of the cross and embracing its message are at the core of how God wants to work in our mundane to bring glory to Himself....

We need to remind ourselves to live in the reality of the gospel each day. But the practice of preaching the gospel to yourself doesn't mean that you just give yourself mini-sermons when you feel your faith wavering. No, it means that you see things as an opportunity to talk with God, talk about God, and receive wisdom from  the Bible throughout your day. 

She goes on to say that God wants more than for us to be happy about our life circumstances and have good attitudes when we're faced with the everyday frustrations of life. He wants us to be happy in Him, even when we have migraines, dishes piled high in the sink, frustrations at work, etc:

The source of our faith, hope, love, joy and gospel-grounded optimism is God himself and not our stuff or our circumstances. Isaiah 61:10 says, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness...". 

I certainly don't have this all down yet! I feel like it's a constant struggle for me to keep my eyes on Jesus and rejoice in Him through the ups and downs of mundane, everyday life. But I can say heartily with the apostle Paul:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.... I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phlippians 3:12-14)

I'm thankful for that reminder from my sweet little godson last weekend, that Christ has made me his own - that God loves me and I am His. And because He has made me His own, I press on toward the goal of treasuring Christ in all things... moment by moment, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until my life is through.