Walking in to the classroom of five year old tinies my teacher, Juan, told me this was not going to be easy
“They are so little.” shaking his head, “I am not good with kids.”
But what I saw in class was a beautiful example of love and grace.
I witnessed the same lesson older students received this week on the components of a computer, but this time it was different.
The drawing of the screen became “Miss Screen” complete with red lips and long eyelashes.
The mouse came to life with ears and whiskers.
I saw children drawing the images and Juan’s joyous reaction to whatever they brought to him. Any scribble was enough for his praise.
He met them where they were and helped them grow from THAT point, not another standard.
I saw God in this moment, not only in Juan’s ability to teach them, contrary to his “lack of skills”; but also in the love he showed for their hard work and scribbles.
Many times I have thought, “I’m just not good at …”
I gave myself an excuse because I truly believed I lacked the ability to do something, or because I thought I would fail.
If we do this, we are not only limiting ourselves, but also God. He already sent Jesus to do his work and now it is up to us (Matthew 28:18-20).
He didn’t call us to do only what we are good at or what we like to do. He called us to relentlessly pursue his children.
We need to stop living comfortably in His kingdom. Instead we must step out and do more than we have attempted before.
The beauty of this is you give God a chance to show up.
You may take a leap and end up with only scribbles on the paper, but God will rejoice in that. He loves seeing your work for the kingdom.
He is a God of persistence, not performance.
So stop trying to perform for Him.
Accept the gifts He blessed you with and explore ones you haven’t before.
Stumble through the prayers and discussions on faith.
Don’t believe the lie that “you aren’t good at ….”
As long as you are meeting His children where they are and pointing them to their Father, you’re doing it right.
Then bring the picture to Him. Show Him where you scribbled and where things came out beautifully. Don’t hide a single part of the picture because it is all lovely to Him.
I challenge each of us to pursue Him daily when our lives are good or bad, when we feel like a work of art and when we are just a doodle on the side of the page.
It all has worth
It all has beauty
It is all loved by our God.
