MISTAKEN IDENTITY
It was a two-week rest with my children while they were on break between school terms. It was a stay-cation. We slept in, occasionally stayed in our pyjamas till the crack of noon, ventured out whenever it pleased us and enjoyed an agenda-free time together. It was a well-needed time doing much of nothing.
One afternoon, as I was collecting damp pool towels off the white tiles, which were becoming increasingly littered with grass-clippings as the day ensued, the Holy Spirit breathed these words over me:
“Karolina, when I said the Kingdom of Heaven belonged to children I didn’t only mean child-like faith. I meant the Kingdom of God belonged to people who know at the very deepest core of themselves that they are MY children. A child who approaches the Father with all confidence, in all love, in all security and fullness of identity – that is who the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to. This is what it is to be a child of God.”
He continued, “Think of your own children. They know everything you have belongs to them also and they have a healthy sense of entitlement. They know what their inheritance is going to be. They come boldly and ask unashamedly for things from you; and they ask again and again and again.”
Then the clincher, “Too many of my children approach me as orphans – timidly, doubtfully, hesitantly begging for scraps of bread. It is a case of mistaken identity. The whole of the Kingdom of Heaven is accessible to and belongs to people who know they are children of God.”
TOO MANY OF MY CHILDREN APPROACH ME AS ORPHANS
IT IS A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY
I looked at the towels in my arms – soggy banners of identity, belonging, home.
It was too much.
I stuffed them into the washer and put on the cycle. Standing there watching them turn in the machine I vowed never to call my children spoiled again. Entitlement abruptly took on a different shade of colour in my spirit.
Have you ever silenced your requesting heart?
Have you ever rebuked a child for incessantly, shamelessly asking?
Me too.
There’s an account in the gospels where parents bring their children to Jesus for him to bless them. Quickly the disciples sweep in and start to shoo the children away. Jesus insists they allow the children to keep coming to him as he lavishes affection on them.
Then he makes this devastatingly conclusive statement.
“You’ll never inherit the Kingdom to Heaven unless you receive it like a little child.” Mark 10:15 (paraphrased)
Maybe you have heard messages preached out of this account. I myself have taught about the child-like faith required for a life that will see the Kingdom of Heaven.
However, on this recent sabbatical with my children, the Spirit whispered to me a far deeper truth tucked away in Jesus’ words that I’d not understood before.
A child who knows who they are, whose they are and what is available to them – that is not a spoiled child, that is a reflection of who God wants me to be with Him.
Why was Jesus’ statement both devastating and conclusive? Because it’s true:
YOU’LL NEVER HAVE THE KINGDOM
IF YOU DON’T KNOW THAT IT’S ALREADY YOURS
And when things fall short of the Kingdom standard in your natural living, you’ll likely make management-plans to survive, rather than instinctively approach the Father with a request to bring your experience back into alignment with His standard and promise for you.
This is why miracles follow those who believe (Mark 16:17); those who instinctively know their Father has miraculous things in store for them (James 1:17). They are not shy about asking. They are not cautious of admonition. They know the Father wants to give good things to His children (Luke 11:9-13). They ask over, and over, and over again.
THEY ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF BEING A CHILD OF GOD
What does this mean for me, for you?
We must return to my posture of prayer in order to identify the scenarios where doubt or timidity shrouds our “ask”. We have to identify where we have approached God like orphans, asking fearfully, “Please Sir, can I have some more?”
WE MUST GO BACK THERE AND CORRECT OUR MINDSETS
You and I need to see ourselves as His beloved children, and see Him as the Father He truly is – good, faithful, abundant, miraculous and willing. If we need evidence of a bigger, more-powerful God, then we need to pray bigger prayers. We need to come boldly before Him (Hebrews 4:16) and revel in His love towards us. Anything short of this grieves the Father’s heart.
My friend, if there is any area in your life where you’ve settled, given up or gone with Plan B, can I agree with you again for a miracle? Let us, His children be evidence to this world of His magnitude and love. The earth is waiting to see it.
