Thursday, April 3, 2014

"Our God"

This morning, Jack woke up and proceeded to start playing at the kitchen table with his Matchbox cars, all the while singing the chorus to Chris Tomlin's song, Our God:

 "Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!"  

 Then he stopped and asked me, "Daddy, what does it mean?"   Me: "What does what mean?"  Jack: "That song."  Me: "You mean, 'Our God is Greater'?"  Jack: "Yes."    I stopped for a minute, wanting to formulate an answer that would hit home to a four-year-old's mind.  After all, he took the time to pause from what he was doing, ask a question, and now was actually waiting for a response.  Usually, he'll ask a question without even pausing before asking the next question. I finally came back with: "Well, we sing that song about God because we are happy that Jesus is stronger than everything, and we are thankful that Jesus came to be our God and be the greatest." I might not have hit a Gospel home run with that response, but the interaction got me thinking.  Of all the songs that Jack loves and sings regularly, I can't think of a single time that he asked about what it meant.  Katy Perry's Firework never got the question, nor did the song Let It Go from the Frozen soundtrack. (Yes, Jack knows all the words to both of those songs) 

I'm not going to attempt figuring out why Jack had that question for me, but in retrospect I'm very thankful that he did.  Of all things that I could want in this world, this question represents the one thing I actually want the most; my children having a personal relationship with their Savior, Jesus Christ.  I love my wife, and I look forward to her salvation, but I don't question whether she's saved or not; she is.  My kids, however, have not yet made a sincere, conscious decision to follow Jesus.  This is what I pray for most earnestly.  If I or they get sick or injured, I'm concerned, sure, but being ill doesn't have eternal consequences.  If I lose my job and my house, my eternal well-being hasn't been impacted.  (I'd even like to think that my reliance on God in that situation would only draw me closer to Him)  But if my kids' lives end before they've decided to follow Christ, or my life ends before I've seen them take that step- this is where I have to rely on the goodness and grace of God... so I pray.  I can't decide for them, they have to... so I pray.

So maybe my interaction with Jack on an ordinary Wednesday is a way that God is telling me that He hears my prayers, and He's got it under control.  He wants to be with Jack and Avery in eternity as much as I do.  Maybe that quiet question will keep coming to Jack's mind until he finally accepts Jesus as his Savior.  I really look forward to that day, but in the meantime, I will keep on praying.