Let the little Children Come...

I saw a headline today. It said, “Afghans Sell Daughters to Repay Loans”. Is someone kidding? Unfortunately not.

When you read the article you realize it is not for lack of love that these fathers are selling their daughters…but for the lack of a choice- at least in their own minds. And in some places in this world- women, and children are commodities. Just pieces of silver.

I look at my own precious daughters and I see Todd love them, play with them, giggle and wrestle with them. My heart breaks for those who don’t have a father like that. I think of my own father who used to hold me in front of a mirror and say, “Didn’t God do good?” He hugged me when I didn’t want to be hugged and chased away the monsters from my room.

In so many lives- fathers are the monsters in the room. What do we do with that? How do we reconcile God’s love with the reality of so many broken lives?

The only thing I can hold on to and express to my friends who have past broken bodies and hearts is that in God YOU have value- not as a commodity but as a REASON for sacrifice. Jesus is our HOPE. But for those you have experienced this type of betrayal- hope can be elusive because it has never been experienced.

As little children we are all taught John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And at first glance- it seems rather basic but do we really understand- that God so loved YOU that he gave his only son?

Young women everywhere need to understand that they are daughters of the King of Kings. That is not something to be taken lightly. His Fatherhood is something God takes very seriously.

John 1:12-13
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

I love those verses- because God understood the culture he was speaking into and realized that children were at the whims of sinful men. He wanted us to all understand that HE CLAIMS US! Not because of anything we do but because he loves us. God has a plan for each one of us even in the midst of extreme suffering. He desires the truth laid out in the Bible to surround and comfort you. When I used to be scared in the middle of the night- I used to repeat memory verses I had learned. I encourage my children to do the same. Or sing praise songs- you see, even as loving parents, Todd and I cannot chase away all my children’s fears.

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Mark 9:13-14

We just talked about this passage in our small group the other night. The phrase that our leader brought to our attention was that Jesus was indignant! He felt offense that His disciples were trying to keep the children away from Him. He placed value on the children and raised them up in the eyes of those around him. I can just picture a few children who had no understanding of love or value at home- clinging to Jesus’ robes. I see him putting his hands gently on their backs, bowing his head over them. He was a refuge. There are just so many verses in the Bible about God being our refuge. I encourage you to do a word study of them if you struggle with shadows in the night.
Remember. You are precious children. Daughters and Sons of a King.