A couple of weeks ago, a neighbor’s grandchildren were visiting. They were about 5, 7 and 3. The two older ones must have just gotten child-sized kayaks and this lesson just involved the two oldest ones, a boy and a girl. Anyway, they started out on shore, grandpa made sure they had their life vests on correctly and taught them how to get into their kayaks. The children were talking a mile a minute, Grandpa this and Grandpa that. He very patiently answered all their questions and then got into his own kayak to show them how to paddle. They paddled around in the shallows, the children hitting the sides of their kayaks with their paddles as they practiced how to make them go in different directions. The grandchildren were so excited, laughing, and giggling and shrieking, “Look Grandpa, I did it!” Then came the real test, grandpa took them kayaking outside their own area in front of their home along the shore, which took them in front of my house. I watched from the deck and couldn’t help smile and laugh to myself because experiencing life from a child’s point of view is always amusing. As they were paddling, sometimes they would paddle ahead of grandpa, sometimes, he had to wait on them. Sometimes, the kayaks came close to hitting each other. However, they made the journey to their destination down the lake and back home safely – all under the patient tutelage of grandpa.
While watching this lesson, I couldn’t help think about how this slice of life depicted our own relationship with God. Grandpa made sure his grandchildren were protected. Then he was so very patient as the children were learning the skills to paddle their kayaks. Finally, he was so proud of his grandchildren, as he told me, while paddling by, that this was their first time kayaking. Isn’t God the same way with us?
God Protects
One of the most important prayers that I pray consistently for my own grandchildren, is that God protects them. I ask that He keep them healthy and protects them from the Coronavirus. I also ask God to protect them and keep them safe as they travel.
It seems to me we often wait to pray when we have gotten ourselves into a pickle and we want God to get us out of it. However, we should be praying for God to protect our way, and that He won’t let us stray out of His will for our lives. Ezra prayed to God for His protection for the Israelites who traveled with him from exile in Babylon back to Jerusalem. “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions (Ezra 8:21).” God did indeed, take the people safely back to Jerusalem to rebuild it after it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. This is a good prayer to pray over our family as we travel, not only on the road, but also through life.
However, there is no passage more iconic that shows God’s protection for us than Psalm 23. David totally understood what it meant to walk with God when he wrote this psalm. The very first line, “The Lord is my shepherd” is the ultimate metaphor for a protector. David goes on to say in this psalm that God will be with him his entire life, protecting him. The same is true of us today.
God is Patient
As the children were learning, Grandpa patiently answered all his grandchildren’s questions with love and kindness. He also patiently waited for them to learn and practice their kayaking skills before he took them on their first kayaking trip. This man was a perfect example of what God’s patience looks like. As we look at I Corinthians 13:4, we see that “love is patient.” Since God is love, we can then understand that God is patient. Think how patient and kind He is towards us as we try to live our lives for Him every day, and yet fail and sin every day. He picks us up, brushes off our knees, and encourages us as we continue on our journey with Him.
The apostle Peter talks about God’s patience towards us as well. At the time, there were some people who questioned Peter about Jesus’ second coming, ridiculing the belief that Jesus will return. They were asking, where is He? And saying, “He’s not returning.” But Peter says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, no wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (II Peter 3:9).” God wants as many of us as possible to join Him in Heaven, so He is putting off the second coming. Thank goodness for His wisdom and understanding of humanity in knowing when is the right time to take this final journey with Him. Just as Grandpa knew when his grandchildren were ready to kayak down the lake, God knows when we are ready to journey with Him to the new Heaven and new earth. We really just need to trust in His decisions.
God is Proud of His Creation
When I say that God is proud, I don’t mean full of pride. Rather, He is proud of us as we achieve His will for our lives, and praise His name. He really likes to spend time with us, and desires companionship with us. Look at what God says about Job when talking to Satan about how he had just come from earth. God says, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil (Job 1:8).” In other words, Job was journeying through life with God, in His will. God took pleasure in Job’s decisions in life.
We see that God after he created man, stepped back, admired His work, and said, “…It is very good… (Genesis 1:31).” In the next chapter of Genesis, God is walking in the Garden of Eden. It seems this might have been a common event, when God walked in the Garden, probably with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening.
God didn’t just talk to Adam, Eve and Job, He also enjoyed the companionship of Enoch. I’ve always been fascinated with this little passage in Genesis 5:21-24, right in the middle of the genealogy of Adam to Noah. It reads:
Enoch lived sixty-five years and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and
daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
There are several Apocryphal books, I Enoch and II Enoch and possibly III Enoch in which during these walks together, God has taken Enoch up to Heaven and Enoch has been shown around by different angels. There are also recorded some of the conversations between Enoch and God. God really was proud of Enoch and enjoyed his company, so much so, God took him from earth permanently without having to experience death.
It is not just God the Father who enjoys our company, but so does Jesus, the Son. While on earth, Jesus grew up in an earthly family and experienced living with brothers and sisters, cousins (John the Baptist), and friends. When He started His ministry, He chose twelve disciples to travel with Him. Out of that twelve, three, Peter, James and John, were closer to Him than the others.
Let’s be honest, we know God desires companionship, because even God is three in one. Before we were created, God says, “Let Us make man in Our image… (Genesis 1:26).” God the Father was already in companionship with the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three were intimately involved with mankind’s creation and all three are proud of us when we treat others as God would treat them. They are proud of us when we seek Their companionship. They are proud of us when we give Them the praise, and They are proud of us when we just enjoy Them for who They are.
I don’t know if this Grandpa is a Christian. I do know that His kayak lesson was exemplary of God’s protection, patience and pride. How he treated his grandchildren is how God treats us, and how God wants us to treat others. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us how we are to act as followers of Him, He says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14-16).” Let’s go be lights!
