Last night, after we were done praying, Stephen asked me why is Jesus special? I had just gotten finished answering half a dozen other random questions as I was on my way out the door to his room, and as I turned to answer this one, I was forced to pause.
What do you tell a four year old about Jesus besides the plain as day completely superficial story? Especially when the question is much more than superficial? How do I know that what I tell him will make sense to him and that he will grasp the true significance of our Savior?
Obviously, trying to be age appropriate, which means breaking it down in a way that he can understand, I tried to explain to him WHY Jesus is special.
Its really hard though, because Stephen doesn’t yet grasp what death is. He knows and has felt both physical and emotional pain, but his life thus far has been blessed with not having to face the ugly truth of death and dying. (Though I think he sensed it when we had visited my dear Uncle who was indeed on death’s doorstep) So… When a young child cannot yet fathom what it means to die, how can you get them to understand the significance of life AFTER death, and the MIRACLE that is Christ?
I don’t recall now exactly how I explained Jesus to Stephen. I was praying silently in my mind as I was phrasing my words, praying the He would direct me in a way that would comfort Stephen rather than frighten him, and in a way that would make Jesus more realistic rather than mythical.
In the end, Stephen seemed satisfied with my little dialogue on Christ. But as I tucked him in again and left his room, I started thinking about my own Faith.
Stephen has obviously been a huge blessing to me, especially in the area of my Faith. The first time he told me he wanted to pray, while Brett was deployed, my heart just burst with pride and with guilt. Pride that this little two year old knew the concept of prayer and a “being” that is bigger than us, yet caring. Guilt because at that time I WASN’T praying with him at all; not even reading the Bible to him or taking him to church regularly. Since that first request, Brett and I both make it a point to pray with Stephen at night. We still don’t go to church regularly, we don’t feel compelled (or ‘led’) to, and we don’t yet read him Scripture, though we do sing him praise and worship songs from time to time. And yet, Stephen has this incredible concept of God and the ability to talk to Him.
How incredibly humbling! Watching Him work in Stephen’s little life is just awe inspiring. I know there are people who have no Faith, or don’t have any relationship with the God they profess to believe in, and I find that incredibly sad, because those people will read this and mock this. But I see His hand daily! First I saw His hand while I was growing up, in the relationships I was in with family and friends. Then I saw His hand in my life’s decisions when the impossible came to happen, and doors opened or closed that never should have based on previous decisions and actions that I thought I had control over. Again I saw His hand in my relationship with Brett, just when I though I was losing him, we came together inexplicably and completely. Yet again, when Stephen was born … one thing after another, His hand was evident where no other explanation could be had. NOW! Time and again, where I fail so miserably in sharing my Faith with my own child, my God fills in the gaps and brings me back to what is most important in this child’s life.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22v6
“When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.” Deuteronomy 30v1-3
