Daughter in Waiting Ministry

The first moment I heard God’s audible voice, it sounded like an echo. He called out my name a few times one night in October 2023. Out of fear of not knowing who or what the voice came from, I ran out of my room. The next morning, He brought me to 1 Samuel 3 – the story of God calling Samuel. That was His confirmation that it had been Him. I begged Him to speak audibly again and although He continues to speak to me in various ways, I have yet to hear His voice again. But, I have not stopped asking.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Matthew 13:44

Despite His voice, despite His word revealed to creation, despite all of His invisible attributes that can be perceived by humanity, despite the works He’s done in and throughout creation, God Himself is a treasure. His kingdom is a treasure. And in seeking it we can come to know Him.

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Luke 12:32

It’s possible to be saved and to not receive or enter the kingdom of God on this side of heaven. To hopelessly wait for the day to come when you don’t have to see tomorrow and simply go on to eternal life. The trials and tribulations of this life can cause many of us to fall short of perceiving the glory of God. Aging also has a way of making lost dreams and unmet expectations plague our mindsets. We can walk around feeling defeated due to life circumstances. We can actively and daily choose not to walk out or accept the promises of God because of a loss of enthusiasm towards life. I unfortunately used to live this way.

“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Luke 18:16-17

Is Jesus telling us that we must all go back to infancy to receive the kingdom? No, He’s telling us that we ought to adopt the heart posture of a child. He’s telling us that we shouldn’t lose our childlike zeal towards life, His creation. He’s telling us that we shouldn’t lose our childlike zeal towards God. Our Teacher. Our Counselor. Our Helper. Our Provider. Our Protector. Our Heavenly Father.

Children are curious and nosy. They ask a single question a million different ways. Somehow when this question is answered, they have more to ask because the answer wasn’t enough. Their ‘why’s’ are endless. Children are messy. Have you trusted a child to not make a mess of a bag of chips, a plate of spaghetti, a juice box, or a chocolate dessert? Despite how trusting we are of children, we know there’s a 99.9% probability that they’ll make a mess of what we entrust them with. Children are fun. They’re so fun, you can run out of energy playing with them. Give a child an entire afternoon and their favorite toys, it’s hard to keep up. Children are confident. Try telling a child something they believe in isn’t true. It’s no surprise that we pretend Santa Claus is real every year just so we don’t have to have that conversation. To a child, the sky’s the limit. Even when you tell them no, they’re convinced they can change your no to a yes and they’ll persist in doing so because most times, it works. They have no qualms even begging for it. Children are impulsive. They can easily get hurt because of this impulsion, because if they want something or to do something, they simply must do so right away. Children are expressive. They want you to know how they’re feeling and why they’re feeling the way they’re feeling. Sometimes they express it with their words. Sometimes they express it with their actions. Sometimes they are more reserved in their expression and wait for you to pry it out of them. But, there’s an expectation there that you will. Children are learners. They are eager to learn from and be like those around them which is why they’re so impressionable. Children are dependable. They need those they rely on to take care of them. And the younger they are, the deeper their dependence is.

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:4

To accept the kingdom of God like a child is to have a humble heart. A heart that knows that the what, who, when, where, and how can only come from God. A heart that asks. A heart that’s not too proud to even beg if need be. A heart that’s not afraid to come to God for everything. A heart that understands if God knows all that is to know about being a child, and He’s asking me to come to Him like a child, maybe He’s onto something. Maybe this is the most freeing way to ride out this life. To lift my hands up and say, God, I cannot. Will not. Should not. Simply won’t. Without you.

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Luke 11:9-10

A childlike heart causes us to wonder. It naturally causes us to ask, seek, and knock. When I dropped down to my knees last year in search of God, I encountered Him. I asked for Him to reveal Himself to me and He did. I picked up my bible and prayed that He would do this life journey with me, and He has. They say throughout the Christian community that God is a gentleman and they’re right. God has never forced Himself nor His teachings on me. Though He’s made Himself known throughout my life, He was patient enough for me to come to Him without me being forced to. Some take offense to that, but I don’t. I love that God lets us have this free will. That’s a greater testimony of His goodness. It’s impressive that despite how powerful and holy God is, He gave me the choice to freely know Him. It makes my revelation of Him even sweeter.

And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.

Luke 19:2-6

One of my favorite stories of a childlike heart posture in scripture is the story of Zacchaeus. There are a couple things that we know of him. He was rich. He was physically healthy to be able to run through a crowd and climb a tree. He was unaware of who Jesus was. And because he was a tax collector, he was among the powerful. All four of these factors could have given Zacchaeus reason not to seek God. He seemingly had it all. But, another factor we know of him is this – he was rich, powerful, healthy and humble. Zacchaeus was so eager to know who Jesus was that he ran and climbed up a tree just to get a glimpse of him. He had to push through people. He was probably sweaty by the time he got to a good enough spot yet still looked around for what more he could do so he climbed up a tree for a better view. Zacchaeus didn’t stop seeking until he felt like he had seen what he came to see. God Himself. Out of the entire crowd, Jesus spoke directly to Zacchaeus and asked him to come to his house. Revelation 3:20 tells us that this is exactly what God does for those who seek Him. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will eat with him and he with me. Zacchaeus behaved like a child shamelessly. He was curious and looked for God. He was impulsive and ran. He had fun and climbed a tree. And because of all of these childlike traits, he personally encountered God. He personally encountered the Word of God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1

The word of God was made flesh through the person of Jesus. He revealed it to us in scripture and fully embodied it in the flesh. Throughout His ministry, God hid. To personally know Him, to understand his kingdom, we have to seek Him. It didn’t matter what grandiose miracle He’d performed or how big the crowds got, Jesus was always quick to hide and quiet those who wanted to publicly proclaim Him as the Messiah before His appointed time (the triumphant entry in Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12). He revealed Himself intimately to those who followed Him despite their questions, their doubts, their concerns, and their lack of faith. All it took for Him to reveal Himself was a humble heart who was seeking. Even if one wasn’t exactly sure who and what exactly they were seeking for. For me personally, when I read God’s word, I want to know more. I won’t shy away from asking every question I have. I won’t shy away from being curious and nosy about His kingdom. I want to know God for myself.

Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Luke 9:18-20

It only matters to a certain point what the world and those around us say God is. It only matters to a certain point what religion says God is. Jesus asked this question to the disciples because it’s up to us to determine who we say God is. When I didn’t know God, I couldn’t answer this question authentically. One of my answers was tied to a religious belief, oh, he’s agnostic, because I grew up in the church but it’s not like I knew Him. Plus, he’s barely present in my life. He must be agnostic. Another one of my answers was tied to hurt and anger and confusion. There’s no God. He doesn’t exist. No God can let all these things happen in the world. There were times I simply didn’t answer the question. I avoided those people. When I didn’t know God personally, I went on tangents about different ideologies, never once landing on a sample answer. As the saying goes, to understand something is to be able to ‘explain it to someone like they’re five’. Because the answer given to a child will be simple and direct. We know that this child won’t accept anything less than what is made plain to them. In my relationship with God, I ask Him to make it plain to me. As a parent, He doesn’t answer every question. Though the ones He does, He tries to make it plain. And if it’s not plain enough, I keep asking.

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Jeremiah 33:3

I love raising the above scripture to Him. When I do, we can spend a while on a subject while He teaches, instruts, reveals, and guides. For example, when I asked Him to reveal His glory to me, He brought me to Ezekiel 1. When I asked Him to explain marriage, we studied various books and scriptures including Genesis 2. When I battled not understanding what righteousness was or if I was even considered a righteous person because I kept reading it in His word, He brought me to Romans 3:22 alongside other scriptures. The more I read God’s word, the more I want to seek Him and the more He reveals Himself and His deity to me. When I’m feeling a certain way, I want God to know it.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord”

Isaiah 1:18

I can’t count how many times I’ve lifted up Isaiah 1:18 to God. Like a child, or even like Habakkuk in His complaint to God, I stand at my watchpost and wait for the Lord to answer my concerns, complaints, and questions. God is not shy to meet me where I seek Him. I sometimes think of all the years I spent not seeking Him with all of my heart. All those moments of my life when I didn’t grasp what it meant to be a child of God or who He is. When I was foolish enough to not choose Him.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-21

My knowledge of life and the world has greatly increased through the eyes of God. He’s given me great fear. It’s a reverence that lets me know that I’m His and because I’m His, I have access to His treasures – His word, His Son, His promises, His victory, His angels, His kingdom – so I’m not meant to wander around aimlessly in this life. He never created us to give us this ‘gotcha’ moment. It’s always been for us to be with Him. Though sin skewed the picture and we can freely choose whether we want to accept Him or reject Him. I’m still in the midst of some trials, but what’s sweet is that God walks with me. I know He will see me through even with my wavering faith and emotions. What’s sweeter, I get to love and seek this all-powerful God through it all.

Thus says the LORD, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 9:23-24

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Additional scripture to meditate on this week:

The wisest man known biblically, Solomon, wrote the book of Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes. The book of Proverbs helps us gain the wisdom and understanding God wants us to have as we walk out our lives. It’s essentially a guide book to the Christian walk in addition to the rest of scripture. The book of Ecclessiastes is a direct contrast to that as it shares how meaningless life can be and can seem to those who do not know the living God or seek to know Him. He calls this a ‘life under the sun’.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 1:7

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Romans 1:18-23

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.“

Luke 18:14

“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Matthew 13:51-52

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Proverbs 25:11

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:1-3

The story of Jesus Calling Philip and Nathanael in John 1:43-51

King David’s love for God’s word in Psalm 19:7-11

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.

Psalm 34:8-9

I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

Habakkuk 2:1

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Psalm 91:11-12