It takes a child

Something became quite clear this morning as I sat and played with "Batman", a bright playful 3 year old who I get to hangout with weekly.

When I first met "Batman", you could see the frustration creep across his face as he would try to explain something, but it was near impossible to understand. He knew you didn't understand if you would asked him to repeat what he had just said. Then one day last week he told me that it was "is khweer owesite" (clear outside). I had a difficult time figuring out what he was trying to tell me. He caught on that I didn't understand, walked to the window, and started explaining that there's no rain, and the sun's shining. He knew that what he had said the first time didn't make since to me, so he tried a different approach.

Today it happened once again. He was introducing me to his stuffed horse. He said the name and I tried really hard to make it out. Before I could ask him to say it again he ran to his toy box. In my head I'm thinking, "Gosh, that's not like him, he must be really frustraded with me if he's going to dart out of the room!" Before I knew it, he was back with a toy car in hand. I then began to see what his little brain was up to. He lifted the bottom of the car up towards my face. I leaned down to read what his little finger was pointing at. The name of the car was "Lightning". All of a sudden it clicked, the name of his horse was Lightning! He knew that no mater how hard he tried to pronounce the name, I wouldn't have the ability to hear it the way he wanted me to. He had a plan to teach me the name in a new way, and it worked.

That's when it hit me. God tries to guide us and speak to us, but sometimes our senses aren't trained to understand it. He has to approach new ways of getting our attention, and even then, we may not listen to what He is saying. It took little "Batman" to show me that maybe I need to be a little more attentive. God could be showing me that He's opening a door, but I choose to be oblivious, then it takes something a little more deliberate and straight forward for me to understand.

{Matthew 13:12-17}

"To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables, for they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,

  ‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears; because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And the longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it."

This is my prayer today;

that my eyes would see & my ears would hear.