Walking at the Pace of the Children

When we are in the presence of the Father, we have those moments that are ‘Father God’ moments. Those moments that are filled with reverence, wonder, awe and an overwhelming sense of His presence. And then there are those moments that are ‘Papa’ moments. Moments when He picks us up, places us on His lap and tells us a story. It’s a story we’ve read a hundred times before, but He turns a familiar page and we’re captivated by the realization that there’s more to this story. A part we’ve missed a hundred times. I had one of those moments recently when I read the following blog.

 

LOVING MY CHILDREN

By Katie Faris

 

On a recent family road trip, we stopped at least once an hour. No exaggeration. By the fifth potty stop for the same child, it was all I could do to hold my tongue as we walked to the restroom. I felt impatience filling me like a balloon, and I was about to burst.

 

I can’t even tell you which rest stop it was or what state we were in, but the Lord reminded me of this verse tucked into Genesis, “…I will lead on slowly…at the pace of the children” (Gen 33:14). Jacob’s words slow me down every time.

At the pace of the children…

 

When my son can’t find his shoe and everyone else is in the car.

When my daughter takes twice as long to eat her lunch as the rest of her siblings.

When my two-year-old decides to potty-train, something I didn’t write on the agenda for the first week of school.

When one child takes longer to learn to read than other siblings.

When a sleepy toddler needs to be carried halfway through a family walk.

Whenever I feel like a child is slowing me down; whenever my plans or time schedule are interrupted; whenever my children move slower than I prefer, I remember—

 

At the pace of the children.

 

Isaiah says that God is like a shepherd who will “gently lead those that are with young.” God is gentle, displaying great forbearance and patience with us.

And these truths deflate that balloon inside of me, the one so close to bursting. So much more is at stake on this parenting journey than reaching our destination at a certain time.

How I think about, speak to, treat, and behave when my child’s bladder is full matters. Will I display love, patience, forbearance, and kindness? Or disdain, impatience, rudeness, and angry words? Will I treat my children as I’ve been treated? Will I remember my Savior’s patience with me? Will I build margin into our life together?

 

What will my children remember from our road trip? What will they remember from their childhood?

 

After our bags are unpacked and the car is unloaded, I stop my husband and thank him. I thank him for leading us home at the pace of the children. And I thank God for being patient with me.

 

1 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. 2 He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

Genesis 33:1-3

 

Jacob and are meeting after many years. Jacob is afraid. After all, Esau is approaching with 400 men.

 

How many times have I come to my Father knowing I've done wrong? Come knowing what I deserve, yet also knowing what I'll get. Tenderness. Compassion. Forgiveness. The very thing I don't deserve is the thing I receive. As you recall, Jacob had wrestled all night with God. As day was breaking, the question was put to Jacob, “What is your name?” During Jacob's time names were important. They stood for something. They weren't just something your parents liked. The name Jacob means to supplant, circumvent, assail. When asked “What is your name?”, it was as if he’d been asked, “Who are you?” and Jacob realized exactly who he was, the type of person he was. It wasn't a good revelation. In that moment, God moved and transformation began to take place in Jacob. So, in Genesis 33, Jacob is about to meet the brother he'd wronged more than once and hadn't seen in years. He was quite naturally concerned. We're not told what Esau experienced in the years after Jacob left him with no inheritance. We have no idea what kind of man Esau became. And neither did Jacob.

 

It is only natural for Jacob to expect Esau to still be angry. Inheritance was a BIG deal. Blessing was a BIG deal. And Jacob had stolen both. And so, Jacob prepared to face an angry brother. He expected the worst.

 

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.[f])

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Gen 25:29-34

 

During old Testament times, when a man fell into debt he couldn’t pay, he could sell his children to pay off his debt. (You can have more children, right?) If he, again, fell into debt he couldn’t pay or didn’t receive enough from the sale of his children, he could sell his wife. (You can get a new wife, right?) The last thing he ever sold was his land. Land was an inheritance. It was sustenance for you and your family. It was where you built your home. Jacob and Esau both knew the promise God had given Abraham. Both had been taught what the future held for their family. And it was huge.

 

So, what about Esau? A man who was so focused on ‘now’, who so despised his birthright that he sold it for a bowl of soup and some bread. How like Esau I am. We are. We surrender our birthright for a momentary pleasure, over a fit of temper, over failure to control our thoughts, our actions, our words. How like Esau. Those decisions always come back to haunt us. For us, forgiveness and restoration is just a whisper away, but for Esau the result of what he chose was permanent. Would Esau still be angry? Would that anger have festered and grown even stronger over the years?

But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.

Genesis 33: 4

 

Oddly enough, Esau's response was very similar to our Father's response to us when we come before Him with our sin, our brokenness, our humility. I never considered Esau. He was just a side note. Or was he? I never considered Esau's response before, but how like the Father it was. Verse 4 tells us that Esau ran to meet Jacob. Just as our Father runs to meet us when we turn to Him. We've all been Jacob- both the before and after versions.

 

Esau offers to accompany Jacob, but Jacob asks that Esau go ahead and allow him to stay with the ewes and cows that are nursing their young and walk at the pace of the children. At the pace of the children. Isn't that just what our Father does? Walks with us at the pace of His children.

 

We are so impatient. God, why aren't You taking care of this NOW? Why do I have to wait? Why is this taking forever? Because He knows that it's important for Him to walk at the pace of the children. At our pace. At the pace He knows we need to walk at. We are in such a hurry to get ahead of what we think we're ready for. We think we know what's best, what we're ready for, when it all needs to be accomplished. He knows what our end would be if we were allowed to run ahead before we're ready. What would Jacob's end have been if he'd met Esau before Esau was ready? It is not for God that the wheels move slowly. It's for us. It's because He walks at the pace of His children.

 

I know many of us have been watching The Chosen and I'm reminded of the episode where Jesus is alone in a field and a group of children come into his life. He doesn't launch into deep teachings. He teaches simple things in simple terms. He walks at the pace of the children. He gives them what they can understand, on a level they can understand it. He walks at the pace of the children.

 

He did the same with the disciples. In the early days, when they were just starting to follow Jesus and were struggling so hard to understand, he didn't give them deep teachings, but he did give them rich teachings. Teachings that would be unpacked as the days wore on. Teachings that would continue to teach as he walked at the pace of the children.

 

But, does God only ever walk at the pace of His children? No. If He did there would be no Azusa Street revivals, no Brownsville revivals, no Toronto Blessing because those moves of God challenge us. They challenge the mindsets we’re locked into. Their purpose, among so many other things, is to challenge us to see God as bigger and as more than we thought He was. These moves of God are sovereign. Yes, we pray for them, but our prayers prepare us for what God wants to do and, once we’ve prayed enough for our hunger to be greater than our preconceived ideas, God reaches down, scoops us up in His hand and walks at His pace. He holds us so that we’re not lost or left behind- we move at the pace of God.

 

And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you or forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.

Deut 31:8

 

We, typically, view this verse as something to hold on to during difficult times. While that is a correct perception, there’s more to see here. There’s Him holding on to us, so that we can walk at the pace of the Father. It’s the Father promising to not let us miss His amazing move or the wonder of Him. It’s Him promising not to run ahead of us, leaving us in the dust.

 

As we continue to move into revival, we must remember the importance of walking with new believers at their pace. We cannot, and should not, expect them to come in cleaned up, issue free and ready to serve. They'll be Jacobs. They'll be Esaus. They'll be us. The versions of Jacob, Esau and us before God came close. And we need to be considerate of their process.

 

Does this mean we abandon our own passionate pursuit of God? Do we “tone down” our intentional desire for Him? Absolutely not! We cannot adequately serve others if we do not continually fill ourselves up with the Father. We must continue to grow in God while walking at the pace of the children, the new believers. We walk at their pace in order to serve them and help them grow, while, simultaneously walking at the pace of the Father, knowing that, as we do, God will scoop up the young ones, carrying them along at His pace. And as they walk at the pace of the Father, they will show us a side of the Father we’ve not seen before. This new move of God will bring us young people so hungry and desperate for God that they will challenge us. The question is, are we willing to lay down everything? What are we willing to sacrifice to burn with the fire we’ll see in them? If we are serious about wanting to see God move, if we are serious about wanting to see our children, our grandchildren, the lost saved, we must be willing to pay a price. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance, but it is the fire of God in us that draws others to Him and starts the fire in them.

Are you willing to be a fire starter?