Are you too big for your body?

I read a devotional today that has really caught my attention. A young child was rough housing around with his uncle and having all kinds of fun when the little guy looked up and said, "You know what's wrong with you? You're skin is too big for your body."

Yes, we do take ourselves too seriously and forget to have plain old fun with our children. Here we are on vacation, back where we grew up. So many things have changed and so many things I've forgotten. What surprises me most are the simple things that I've forgotten, which when remembered now, causes a belly laugh that's hard to control.



I remember a summer when it was so hot and we needed rain so badly. My grandfather came by during his lunch hour and told us that we needed to do the rain dance. He then procededed to teach us how. He proceeded to dance on one foot to another circling the old barrel we used outside to burn trash. He told us if we all did that it would rain. We danced around it with him like a bunch of indians and sure enough it rained that night. Ha! We thought he was magic!!



I remember camping vacations in Yosemite with my family. Daddy would rope us all together and take us on 1/2 day hiking trips. That rope kept us safe and secure as we climbed up trails and we saw some of the most beautiful sights in the world.



Both of these memories remind me of the simple trust and faith we had in the adults in our lives. When my grandfather told us to dance and it would rain we laughed and cavorted and wore ourselves out. We had so much fun with him. It rained! It was awesome. When dad roped us together and told us that the rope would keep us together so we wouldn't get lost and help us to be safe as we climbed up those trails, we gladly roped ourselves together and trusted that we'd be safe and we'd make it to the top.



I think that is what God meant when he said we were to become as little children. The ability to believe anything that you were told and to do it without questioning it's possibilities. Just do it. Just believe it AND most of all, expect it to happen. Simple faith and trust.



But have we gotten too big for our bodies? Are we able to be as little children? Can we go back to the time when we could believe that we could just dance and the rain would come? Do I have the ability to believe that God's word said it and therefore it so? Lord I hope not!!



God's word says He is the supplier of all our needs. God's word says that He is the healer of all our diseases. God's word says that a sparrow will only fall to the ground if He wills it and He knows the number of hairs on our head....so we are not to be afraid because He cares even more for us than the sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31). He knows where I am and cares for me!!



God's word tells me to sing songs, praise, dance and give thanks in the middle of my troubles. (Eph 5:15-21) Ok, it doesn't say in the middle of my troubles....it says "in all things". So am I too big to take this simply as it's stated? If not, then that means that I should sing and make a melody in my heart no matter what or where I am. I SHOULD thank Him when my job is stressful and I have too much work. I SHOULD sing a song and have a joyful heart when the kids are fighting in the back seat and we have just begun a 4-hour road trip. It means that if God said he would supply all my needs, then I should be singing and dancing and thanking Him for doing just that.



I have to remember the life lessons I was taught without ever being in the classroom. My grandfather knew it was going to rain that evening because he saw the clouds coming and knew the signs and could interpret those accurately. So he had us dance before it ever began; joyful in the knowledge that it was coming. That's just like God. God has already supplied all my needs. I need to dance in anticipation of the final outcome.



My father knew that his strength along with that rope tied around his children would keep us safe and secure and following in his footsteps. God knows that if we do as His word commands that nothing can ever separate us from His love and security. God will lead us in the pathway that is ours to travel and experience life in a beautiful way.



It's simple really. Become as a little child. Laugh and play and believe all the words you read in the Bible. They are not stories. They are true! They are mine to live!! They are mine to have!!



Am I too big for the things that God has in store for me? Unless I become as a little child.......I think I may be.