I believe God is often speaking to us in ways we sometimes notice and sometimes miss. One of the ways God gets my attention is through my interactions with children.  I’ll find myself in the midst of answering a child’s question or explaining something to him or her, and suddenly, I realize that what I am telling them is what God wants to tell me. This happened to me recently. 

First, some background: Shortly after waking, I found myself grumbling and complaining in my mind about various things. Strangely, this didn’t stand out to me because, embarrassingly, I think I often start my day this way. At breakfast, I found myself verbalizing some of these complaints out loud in conversation with my husband. The complaints weren’t about him, but as I spoke them out loud it made me aware of how judgmental I was being. This made me feel ashamed as I reflected on my own criticalness. Later, as I sat with my 10-year-old daughter, she told me out of the blue, “Life is hard.” As we discussed this comment, I told her I agreed and that God agreed too. I pointed out the words Jesus spoke to his disciples: “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) She perked up when I said this. I explained how Jesus overcame death and sin and how wonderful that is. She immediately told me that she has a problem with sin. I asked what she meant and she said: “Yesterday, I was being mean to my friends.” I asked if she wanted to say sorry to God, and without hesitation, she did just that, with a big smile on her face. I told her that God LOVES it when we recognize our sin because it validates his death on the cross. And that we honor his sacrifice by confessing specific sin to Him. That He is pleased when we do this. I also noticed a quiet realization happening inside of me. As I told these truths to her and watched her joy at confessing her sin, I realized God was gently nudging me to do the same with my judgmental thoughts. There was no condemnation, and I realized that the shame I carried was unnecessary. In fact, Jesus is honored too when I confess those sins to Him. 

What a delight it can be to witness a child’s joy in this miraculous exchange. And my joy was increased because I made a personal connection with God in this moment AND released my sin to Him. I wonder how often God is trying to have these wonderful exchanges with us throughout the day? God is speaking to each one of us in everyday circumstances like this one but sometimes we need to ask Him for help to hear Him. Thank you God that you love to reveal yourself to us and that if we look, we will find you speaking to us.