The little boy inside

Mike, Tammy, Matt, Amy, and Josh

I saw the
angel in the marble and carved until I set him free, Michelangelo

Much
has been said about the little boy inside the big man. Little boy emerges when
big man is whittled down. Whittling is a fine hobby for some down-home folks.
You know, taking a stick and making a point on it or a chunk of wood and
carving out a dog or horse or automobile. Some folks get real fine knives, and
some get a whittling set for their Birthday.

What
is the point? God whittles human sticks as a hobby; and I bet He whistles as
He whittles. God uses an Exacto knife! He chips away at the big-serious-man-imitating
dude; the one desperately trying to appear again alongside the true work of God.

The
rare-bird-breed shakes the old, leaving it behind forever. This
breed also embraces the new, and the group understands who they have become. Brain-dead
folks just can’t seem to grasp it, and they let the best stuff slip away. Instead, they try to
imitate and anticipate what they imagine the end product to look like.

What does this
remind us of? Yes, our old friend, the Egomaniac, (ego), ain’t dead yet, and he just can’t
wait to get his sophisticated foolishness listened to. To the
old rat; patience eludes. He thinks, “surely, God should be done with me by now.” Then replies, “I have really matured and have seen a lot of God in action.” “I
mean; I outright know God and have had many a trial, and now I am picking up
the ball and running with it.” This man has stopped short of God’s last episode; being
made as a child, (for of such is the kingdom of God).

What
is it about the little boy that God is trying to get down to in His whittling?
Number one; children believe stuff. They don’t have to see the demonstration,
and they won’t have to look it over forty times. Believing is of the Kingdom of God; it trusts, it hasn’t spent a huge
amount of time in analysis. Call it naivete, or innocence, but the small fry hasn’t been alive very long. The tyke just hasn’t had a deep meditation about what makes something or
someone appear untrustworthy. A child trusts, because of such is the little boy
within.

Number
two; Trust is fun, and little ones have no problem allowing fun in their lives. They haven’t
been ‘unfunified’ yet. He or she gushingly grabs for easy things and fun things, ignoring complicated stuff of adult world. Of such is the kingdom of God—being whittled away from the
transgressor’s fate; hard. O, these may see tough times but often are oblivious to what is happening. They may still have inward joy in horrendous and hairy times.
Eh?

Number
three; the normal child rests and thoroughly enjoys his insulated world. Maybe
he tests limits, but good parents establish them well; and once done testing, the little
one relaxes in his boundaried habitat. Children are just not ambitiously trying to get ahead. Contentedness is inherent in the child; competition and striving are for later.

Number
four; tots just think simply: not complex.  Kids hang out with other kids, if given
opportunity. They really never evaluate clothing styles or degrees of social
status of themselves or others. Children forgive easily. Kids don’t see color distinctions, kids are
kids and that is all they see, and little ones relate to little ones.  

Number
five; a child is humble; meaning the pride of self honor is not in his
vocabulary of life. The young one is learning and teachable, but the big kicker
is he is not stuck in his own head. He has not been turned inward yet; surely
that will happen down the road, but not yet.

What
has this to do with Abram, Sarah and us? Well if we put Unconditional love out
there and see that it is represented by the Exacto knife, what do we think will
happen? The one who loves unconditionally, with His dying demonstrated,
is creating a drawing effect of irresistible magnitude. Abraham and Sarah were
simply the objects of this whittling and drawing. The effect became the
enhancement of God-desire in their lives and a slowly building capacity to love
with this received love without putting the usual conditions on it.

Abe and Sarah represent to us an adolescent stage in God’s healing history. The
adolescent world can be a serious world. The thing of adolescent perception that
annoys mature adults; “adulthood is wrought with seriousness. The
mind of adolescents, struggling for identity, miss-perceive; “adulthood
is simply all-seriousness.” Well, it’s okay to be honest  as an
adolescent, but not to equate abject sobriety with adulthood.

It’s a
tough game, as can be testified to by all who have raised offspring, because parents
may sincerely model a too grave type of lifestyle. Bluntly, hoping to spare
their children from having to discover their own limits, parents over-protect. Maybe they under-protect.
We are thankful when The Great Whittler is overseeing it all.