It was an just another ordinary day in Cambodia. Well, as ordinary as life can be on the World Race I guess.
I got up early, made myself a cup of coffee, and sat outside on the front porch to have my morning devotional time. Sok Eng, our ministry host whom we were living with for the month, was out there with me, tuning his guitar. We could hear Omnor, his three-year-old son, starting to cry from the other room (as he does most mornings when he first wakes up).
“Omnor, Papa is here. Come outside!” Sok Eng called out from the porch. He looked at me, smiling and shaking his head as Omnor continued to cry out from his bed.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
That’s when he said it:
“He cannot start his day until he is with his Papa.”
I smiled to myself as Sok Eng went into the house to get his son and carried him outside to the hammock, where they sit together almost every morning.
Omnor sat there with his father for a little while, quietly swaying back and forth. He was content now. When he was ready, he hopped down and started playing. He was like a brand new person! Smiling and chattering with me on the porch the way three-year-olds do, giggling as he chased the chickens all around the yard.
What a beautiful picture the Lord was showing me through Omnor and his daddy that morning.
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“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.‘” Matthew 18:1-4
This is what the Lord wants from us.
I think this is what He means when He tells us to make ourselves like little children.
He wants us to long for Him the way Omnor longs for his Papa every morning. He wants us to depend on Him the way Omnor depends on his daddy to provide all his needs. He wants us to not be able to begin our day until we’ve stretched out our arms and asked Him to carry us, just to simply sit and reside in His presence.
And when we do that–when we long for Him and depend on Him every moment of every day, and when we learn to simply reside with and abide in Him–that’s when we begin to be transformed. We become a new creation!
This is what the Lord wants from us. This is what He wants for YOU! He wants you to long for Him just as He longs for YOU. He wants you to depend on Him in everything. He wants you to RESIDE with Him in the safety of His loving embrace.
All you have to do is stretch out your arms to Him.
Come to Him with outstretched arms, waiting expectantly for Him to show up.
Cry out to Him, knowing He’ll be there to carry you the rest of the way.
