Sometimes little kids ask big questions.....I am in my second year of being a Sunday school teacher worthy or not and have found kindergarten and first graders to be interesting little human beings. I've heard many questions, but I heard one that recently stopped me. I was talking to the kids about how God always answers our prayers when one of them disappointingly said, "God doesn't ever listen to my prayers....I never hear Him talk to me." I was struck with silence for a moment while the other teacher explained that God doesn't talk out loud to us, He talks to our hearts......He lives inside of us as she continued....The little kid didn't seem happy with that answer so I fumbled out that sometimes we don't listen very well and we miss what God is trying to tell us....I gave the example that if you see an older person in church having a hard time getting through the door and a voice inside of you says, "Why don't you open the door for them?" I explained that that can be a way God talks to us.
How I feel for that kid!!!!! I have totally been there!!! Don't you wish God could have an everyday normal out loud person to person conversation with you sometimes???? To actually sit with Him like his disciples did and ask away! To be able to touch Him....to look Him in the eyes....to see how much He loves you....to just be near him in silence...to sit and just listen to Him as Mary did at His feet.....to be able to come to Him and let Him hold you when you are hurt....to be able to hear His voice!!!!! Wow! I get goosebumps just thinking about how wonderful that would be!!!
The fact that God doesn't talk to us in person can be frustrating....Our world wants answers now....I want answers now!!! Isn't easy to not talk to someone if you can't hear or see them? Isn't easier if God would have just created robots....He tells us what to do each day and we do it?!
I realize I don't have any answers to these questions....I can only compare to what God had taught me in the Bible. He says "Blessed are they that believe, but don't see." He says that to Thomas after Thomas doubted that Jesus was really risen from the dead.
Jesus wants us to believe in Him without force, yes even without seeing him in person. Many people train horses with force and the horse will obey them out of fear. The horse doesn't love them and they don't really love the horse....they are just interested in gaining a fast result. Other people train horses out of love for the sake of creating a strong bond which leads to overwhelming trust and love of each other and in time creates something so beautiful, so unique, and so inspiring that they can do amazing things....yes even without force or voice!!! Sure, we can't directly talk to God face to face, but we can talk to Him--just like we can't directly talk to a horse, but yet we can communicate to them.
I think God wants us to be able to come to Him out of pure desire. Pure need. Pure love. Just as a good horse trainer will not force the horse into loving him...it just happens as their relationship grows. God doesn't want to force us to Him, He wants us to long to be with Him and to know Him to be able to be still and quiet and know that He is in the same room you sit in tonight. Go ahead talk to him. He's listening. The trick is....are you? Are you listening to Him or are you caught up in distractions? I get easily distracted.
My goal is that the next prayer I make will be more sincere as I know that God is with me where ever I pray and that He will answer me...I just have to wait and listen. How does God talk to you? I'd love to hear it! Thanks to the little kid who made me think deeper...I understand better why God wants the little children to come to Him....I pray that Jesus talks to this kid...He's already used this kid to talk to me....I'm trying Jesus...Keep speaking to me and open my ears!
