Monday, August 18, 2003
There's a lot of talk these days about Biblical prophecies being fulfilled and about the signs that precede Christ's return. But when you're little, all this talk about how things are going to end can have an interesting effect. One friend of ours told me recently about how his little boy told him, "Daddy, I sure hope Jesus comes real soon." His Dad asked him why, and the little boy responded, "Well, I'm really looking forward to sitting on Jesus' lap, and I'll be seven pretty soon. And if Jesus doesn't come soon, I might be too old to sit on His lap!" Dad was glad to be able to give his son the good news - "Son, you are never too old for Jesus' lap."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Too Old For His Lap."
Now, for someone who's listening today, that's a reminder of a fact that could be crucial for your emotional survival right now.
Maybe you've been wounded in a relationship lately, you've experienced a very painful loss. Maybe a security blanket you've depended on has been taken away. Someone who's listening today is feeling very lonely, broken, confused, maybe unlovable, or even unloved. When you were little and felt like this, you may have had a parent's lap you could run to for safety and comfort. But you're all grown up now, and you're really hurting inside.
What a father told his little boy is very important for you right now - "You are never too old for Jesus' lap." There is wonderful news in our word for today from the Word of God for all of us who have had human love let us down sometime - which is every one of us. In Zephaniah 3:17, God says, "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
Now, the children understand it best I think. You can see it in their faces when they sing, "Jesus loves me, this I know." Years ago one of the world's leading theologians was lecturing at a seminary, and he concluded with a question-and-answer session. One of the seminary students - thinking he was being profound - asked the theologian what was the deepest spiritual truth he had ever studied. The theologian paused momentarily and then he answered, "Jesus loves me, this I know." It is that simple fact that needs to be the refuge for your hurting or broken heart right now.
The Lord God is with you! He's mighty to save you! "He will quiet you with His love." He is the loving Lord who wants to gather you up in His lap and remind you how much He cares about you; that there is nothing you can do to make Him love you more - and nothing you can do to make Him love you less. He just loves you, no strings attached. It has nothing to do with deserving His love. You can't. He just loves you!
But because you're all grown up now - you're tough and sophisticated, self-sufficient, you can handle it - you may not be allowing yourself to crawl into Jesus' lap, to pour out your deepest feelings to Him, to open yourself up to a healing flood of His grace. If you don't, the hurt you're feeling is probably moving you to one of four tragic emotional alternatives - you're either starting to turn hard, to pity yourself, to shut down, or to give up - all of which will just make you more lonely and isolated.
Now, this is a time for you to allow yourself to be that wounded child, crawling into the lap of the one who loves you most. As Corrie ten Boom said, "Don't wrestle, just nestle." Let Jesus remind you of who you really are because you belong to Him, of how much you're really worth and of His power to heal earth's deepest hurts. You really are never too big for His lap.