Big questions from the little guys

I know my boys are still so young – they are only 4 and 2 years old – but my, how they grow!

This little man has had a big week.  The pacifier went away forever last week (and it really took him only 3 days to adjust – the first night was the worst).  And tonight is his first night in a big-boy bed (I’m writing this Monday night… I’ll let you know how it goes after tonight!)!  I still forget that he is not really a baby anymore.  He’s my baby, though, and it’s amazing to start seeing him in new ways.

And this big boy?  I mentioned in this post that Elias was letting the big questions fly as we led up to the Easter weekend.  We have been talking more about Christ’s death and resurrection than we ever have in the past, and Elias is at an amazing age where he soaks in all this information and formulates his own ideas about things.  What a miracle to watch a little mind grow!

Last week, as we were talking about Christ’s death, Elias asked how he could be with God.  As we talked, it came out that Elias thought that the way to get to be with God was to die on a cross.  He was very relieved to know that he would not need to be crucified to be with God – but he was adamant that he wanted to be with God.  For real be with God.  Face to face.  And he started to cry as we talked… the thought of not being with God was too much for him.

My heart broke for him – what an amazing example of first love!  Elias’s little 4 year old heart is longing to be with God – and I thought we were {thisclose} to having him ask Christ to be his Savior.  I still think we are close, as we continue to talk about this.  It’s a fine line that we walk… I don’t want to “force” him to ask Christ into his heart – it needs to be something that he wants to do without prompting.  But as a parent, I long to know that my children will receive that eternal life promised to those who believe! I became a Christian at 23 years old – it is hard for me to believe at times that a 4 year old could have that love and that longing to be with God in their heart, without the life experiences that pushed me to Him.  But how the Lord could preserve my sons from those life experiences if they did come to a saving knowledge of Christ at an early age!

So what do we do?  We pray.  We continue to talk.  Tonight, Elias was asking about the size of God.  It’s hard to wrap your mind around the fact that God is the Creator of all things and is huger than huge (yes, those are the words I used to explain to Elias how big God is)… but at the same time, He is “small” enough to be in our hearts.  He asked again about when he would get to be with God, face to face, to hear Him say “Good job, faithful servant.”

Thankfully, I’ve had a chance to pray about this, and the Lord has supplied some answers for my big boy.  God has a plan for him.  And right now, God’s plan for Elias is to be here on earth, sharing God’s love with everyone he meets.  And when God’s time for him comes, Elias will get to see God face to face.  And not only that, we can be with God right now.  If we want to talk with God, we can pray.  We can think about God and talk about God with others – and that fellowship brings us closer to God, too.  Reading God’s Word and learning more about him draws us closer to Him.  And with the Holy Spirit in our hearts, God is with us always.

These questions snuck up on me.  In the middle of, “Can I have more goldfish?” and, “When are we going to DisneyWorld?” these big questions caught me off guard.  These are not talks I thought I’d be having with my 4 year old – but my son’s heart is growing towards the Lord.  And I am so thankful!  This is why we do this.