Pure Mischief: Redeeming Chidhood through Relationship with Christ

As a child, I remember myself as a very naughty, bratty kid.

True story.

Staying up till late could see me jumping on beds in front of our prized summer-time cooler, while the next day noon would witness me running through our garden in round circles, my mom and maid on their heels chasing after me.

I would pull at the beard of the menservants working at home, and unabashedly demonstrate affection for my next door neighbor, an adoring uncle, by pouring half-a-litre worth of my favorite oil (Brahmi-Amla Kesh Tel – you’ve got to Google this one!) over his head (and perhaps down his shirt) in front of all the dinner party guests! After all, the one I dearly love must have the same oil as me, right?

The festival of Holi a certain year had me go over with friends to the nearby mess hall, mix all the colors together with water and splash them on one another, and that too with my brand new birthday gear on!

I mean the girl needed rescue.

And rescue is what I got – but not from my sense of child-like innocence, awe and wonder; but rather into it.

I reckon friend, that as the years go by, life happens. There is pain, grief, suffering and before long, we know we are living on the east of Eden.

The glint in our eyes that said, ‘Anything’s possible!’ begins to wane; the spring in our step that took us on brave adventures reduces to a cautious shuffle; and the song in our hearts that connected us to the heartbeat of heaven dims itself to a tired whisper.

So the question on the Table today is –

“Before trauma ever happened – who were we?”

Well…

Let’s see..

We were childlike, innocent and unashamed to live in awe & wonder.

We were the object of our Father’s affection and delight, and we knew it.

We were living in a free-flowing communion with the Lord and walked with him in the cool of the day.

We were free.

We knew no sorrow, but then it happened – the Fall of man.

The crafty serpent slithered into the Garden of Eden – a heavenly potrait of perfect bliss – and tempted Eve into partaking of the forbidden fruit; a demonic strategy of deception to create division between God and man, leading to death and destruction.

And those were the birthing grounds of all of humanity’s trauma, which essentially means, ‘heartache,’ caused first and foremost by creating a rift, a barrier, a separation between God and his beloved children, and that too in a place that was purposed to enjoy unbroken communion – the Garden of Eden.

Now given that we are living on the other side of the Fall – how do we reconcile that?

Well..

Let’s see..

Friends, we reconcile that through the Person of Jesus given to us by the Cross of Christ.

“God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

He is our Redemption, our Song, our Hope. He is the Prince of Wholeness, Everlasting Father, Immanuel – God with us.

He is the one who holds our promise of restoration – back to the original design that was in God’s own heart concerning us.

But how really?

Well…

Let’s see..

CHILD-LIKENESS RESTORED:

Our childlike innocence and purity is now redeemed in Christ. We are the apple of our Father’s eye, his song and his prize. He sung us into being, and still rejoices over us.

He is not ashamed of us or disappointed in us. He is a wise Father who knows to demarcate between our ‘who’ and our ‘do.’ He is quick to diss the latter, but keep and nurture the former.

For our Identity in Christ is independent of anything that we have done or has been done to us. He has paid the price for our freedom, and has obliterated both, our sin and our shame. He has given us the gift of ‘shalom’ instead – wholeness, victory and peace.

Our childlike awe and wonder is also redeemed in him. He has untethered us from the tentacles of this earthly realm, and tied us to the reality of heaven itself – our true Home.

Friend, Heaven is the domain of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. It is a place of endless possibilities, and zero limitation, sickness or sorrow. It is here that dreams live and destiny manifests – it is the realm of glory.

Our very mission and mandate is, “On Earth as it is in Heaven,” and the currency of our exchange is belief – “everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23)

So as we pull down heaven with our words and declarations of faith, a new flow is released in and through our lives – Heaven Come.

For we were designed and destined to not just go there ‘one day when,’ but to usher in it’s reality ‘here and now.’ Our God is moved by faith, and when God is moved, he moves mountains.

It is in this love that he invites us on a journey of child-like trust and adventure where anything is possible – the sick can be healed, the dead can be raised, the past can be redeemed and dreams can be fulfilled.

Now doesn’t that sound like a child’s imagination?

Precisely.

Jesus in his earthly ministry told his disciples that anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child cannot enter in (Mark 10:15).

This is our Father.

He stirs the inner child within us, looks at us with pure mischief in his eyes, calls us out from the crowd and says,

“Delightful one! Take my hand and follow me. I have not created you to lead a life of mediocrity, but of Heaven on earth.

So come.. let us walk on the water with our eyes on the prize. Step away from the safety and familiarity of the comfortable shore, and step into the deep, blue unknown of the ocean waves, where I assure you, I have greater things in store.

Do not fear, for I am with you.”

So even though I don’t anymore run wildly through sprawling gardens, jump on my bed at 2 AM or pour oil down my favorite person’s head and gear; I am yet a Child of God.

My sense of child-like innocence and purity, awe and wonder, trust and adventure has not only been rekindled, but also fully restored in Christ, and perhaps in a way that even surpasses the gait and gumption of the 5-yr-old riot that I once was.

I maybe an adult to look at, but my heart has come alive.

Trying my best to language this experience accurately has been a fun attempt in faith for I feel that a phenomenon like this points not only to the perfect wisdom of God, but rather to the pure mischief of the Father who sees us and says,

‘I know you. I love you. I want you. And I’m going to see to it that nothing stands in the way.’

Friend, looking back at the full-of-life, five-year-old kid that I used to be, I was tempted to think that maybe I was the queen of mischief, but no.

Wait a minute.

I got it from my Father.

And he’s the King.

Small Things with Great Love

The Lord first laid this verse on my heart a couple of months back with regard to a personal initiative that I believe He is calling me to take up. Someone who absolutely delights in chronicling everything that Jesus tells me in multiple journals, I made a quick note.

But as I did, a really funny thing began to unravel in the days and weeks ahead.

What began as a fancy name for a future enterprise slowly morphed into a most stunning personal revelation. Seeking to share what I have learnt, allow me to welcome you to a tiny segment of my personal walk with Christ called,

“Small Things with Great Love.”

I believe that it was Mother Teresa who first contrived this phrase in her well-known adage,

“We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Though there is much to say about our faith walk with the Lord, what I love most about it is that it can all be summed up into one simple law, the law of love – ‘and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Mark 12:30-32, ESV)

More often than not, I feel that as children of God who are learning to walk with the Lord, we can tend to overcomplicate things. We can start to think about our calling and destiny in terms of something quite spectacular and grand which will happen, ‘one day when.’

One day when I get my degree and start my practice..

One day when I get married and start my ministry..

One day when I get my breakthrough and the path ahead is cleared..

But what I have discovered is that all we ever have is the ‘here and now.’ As long as we are sowing in love in our lives on a daily basis, we can be rest assured that whatever the Lord has promised us in the ‘then and there’ will manifest most organically as a result of our humble obedience and loving devotion – right here, right now.

1.Loving God well

Our primary calling in life is to know God and love God. I have learnt by experience that what this basically means is a lifestyle of unbroken fellowship with the heart of our Perfect Father, something which doesn’t only happen in and through our spiritual disciplines like prayer and quiet time with the Lord (though those are really important!), but rather in and through the beauty of an authentic heart-to-heart connect with the Lord through the hours of our day.

In my own personal walk with Christ, I have discovered that one way to effectively put this truth into practice is to remain in a relational dialogue with the Lord as we walk through whatever it is that we are called to in our day-to-day life.

Whether it is in the context of family, community, business, workplace or ministry, what confounds us is never beyond the wisdom of heaven. I have learned the value of taking my questions to Jesus, instead of striving to find solutions in my own limited strength. What inevitably follows is not only a satisfactory response from God that promises resolution, but also strength and strategy for the journey as I embrace my process, knowing that God controls the outcomes and therefore, they remain secure.

The net result of such a lifestyle, friends is a deepened and more dependent relationship with the Father where He leads, and we follow. Walking in humble steps that keep Him involved in our daily lives not only demonstrates our love for Him, but also brings the awe and wonder of God into our otherwise mundane lives, keeping the adventure fresh and exciting.

Love, I’m learning, is its own reward.

2. Loving ourselves well

Fuelled by the transforming power of grace, rest and self-care; I am also learning the power of loving myself well. We cannot pour from an empty cup, but for my cup to run over, I not only have to receive the love of God for me in its fullness, but let my experience of that love transform the way I see myself and love myself.

Grace
Talking of grace, our Father personifies it fully in the person of Jesus and as I take my cues from Him, I am learning to not be too hard on myself but rather give myself the kind of grace that I receive from the Lord too. Letting Him teach me to understand myself with mercy, not judgement has one of the most challenging yet satisfying part of my journey to wholeness thus far.

Though the times I fail or falter are many, learning to correct my posture in such times from self-condemnation to self-compassion has begun to awaken me to the truth that God does not call me to a life of perfection, but rather perspective. I wasn’t created to have it all together, but rather to bring all the messy parts of me to Jesus, letting His perfection fill in the gaps. For in Him, I am complete. The Lord couldn’t have said it better when He spoke thus to apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)

And because it is, I am learning to let go and let God. Letting God not only inhabit those spaces of my soul where His power is made perfect in my weakness but also take over as it relates to the situations and circumstances of my life, which brings me to the topic of rest.

Rest
Friends, though there are many ways to practice rest, I have found that they are all rooted in one common truth – trust.

Our most basic human instinct is to have control, but the word of God says that love always trusts (1 Corinthians 13:7). Control has to do with fear, but love will inspire trust. As image bearers of God being transformed into His likeness which is the purest love ever, a huge part of our process with the Lord has to do with releasing control and replacing it with simple, childlike trust.

I am discovering that when I do what the Psalmist describes in Psalm 56:3, ESV “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you,” I immediately enter into a place of deeper rest as a result of placing my trust in the right place – Him.

Not in my limited ability, and not in the broken state of my circumstances, but rather in Jesus – the author and perfector of my faith (Hebrews 12:2). Each time I sense fear creeping up, tempting me to take control, I have to be very intentional about acknowledging that the Lord is sovereign – over every nation, every household, every heart. And if He said it, He will do it.

This is a gentle reminder that I give myself several times a day, and the more I do, the more I am able to trust Him and the more at rest I am internally.

Self-care
The third counterpart in the realm of loving ourselves well that I have found, friends is self-care.

Taking the time to engage in an activity that serves to rekindle our passion and zest for life while simultaneously connect us to the heart of the Father is a wonderful way, I believe, to remind ourselves that we are worthy to be taken care of, to be nurtured, to be replenished.

A personal revival is always at the core of revival in our families and communities. Though there are several things that we can indulge in, I have learnt that commiting to what is most authentic will be the most fruitful.

For some of us, this can look like catching up with a trusted friend over coffee at Starbucks. For some, it can take the form of reading through a fictional novel that transports us and stimulates our imagination. For some, it can even be fixing a jigsaw puzzle in the cosy comfort of their home, while for others, it can look like long walks and evening strolls with Jesus.

Let me share a true story at this point. On the other side of having begun this post, I found myself thrust into an unexpected trial. Since my temperament is basically like that of a finisher, I had kept a target of 2-3 days when I would write, finish, edit, pray and publish. However, the process that the Lord had in His mind for me, was quite different.

Though I don’t believe that He causes our troubles, I do believe that He uses them for our development. And this much I knew, I had hit a valley.

As the Lord shepherded me through this difficult time, I learnt how to love myself well in a whole new way. Walking out the impact I had endured hand-in-hand with the Father, I was compelled to give myself grace even if I never completed what I had begun. And perhaps, especially then. I was inspired to take adequate rest not only physically, but also spiritually as the Lord challenged me to trust Him to complete that which He had begun. Any voice of self-condemnation was replaced by the voice of self-compassion as I took the necessary measures to heal, recover and rebound well.

Coming out on the other side, I am so pleased to share that as a result of learning to love myself well through this time, I have come forth more refined, more rested, more whole, more free and more empowered. I also feel better positioned to love my neighbour more authentically because I know what it is to love myself the way God loves me.

3. Loving our neighbour as ourselves

I believe that God deposits the seeds of a prosperous future in our present. We are summoned by Him into a lifestyle of daily devotions and daily missions where it is not so much our ability that qualifies us, but rather our availability before the Lord.

The people that He has called us to love and serve are always around and about us. So, I will share here a couple of questions I have started asking God in prayer that have empowered me to be the hands and feet of Christ to help those around me:

– Who can I help today?
– Who can I encourage?
– Who can I pray for?
– Who can I bring loving correction to?
– Who can I forgive and bless?

As I write these questions for you to ponder, I am struck by the fact that all these questions have one thing in common –

‘Who.’

I feel we can often stumble over the ‘what’ in terms of our calling/destiny. My own experience testifies. But what I am learning and seeing is that the Lord wants us to pay attention to the ‘who’ – His son or daughter that is right in front of us. And as we do, He promises to make all things manifest in His perfect way and timing.

In other words, the question perhaps is not so much as, “what am I called to do?” as it is, “who am I called to love?”

Personally, this approach has been hugely rewarding for me. I have since found myself more present in my day-to-day life. Whether it was organising a vehicle for a young girl stranded on the street desperate for a ride to her destination, fetching medication to aid the recovery of my auto-rick guy, or agreeing to speak the truth in love to a family member; walking in tune with the rhythm of the Father’s heart postures me to be more aware of and attentive to the needs of the people that God has placed in front of me – right here, right now.

For it is our obedience in the here and now that is instrumental in unlocking the realms and doors of our destiny in the then and there, simply because all that we are and all that we do is grounded in the primary call of beholding and becoming love.

The value that God places on love above all else is clearly revealed in the passage that says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, ESV)

I believe that God here is saying that no matter how accomplished we are, no matter how much knowledge we possess, no matter how theologically sound our doctrine is, if we have not love, we have nothing at all.

Conversely, even if the areas of our calling and destiny seem a bit obscure, we don’t need to despair. We are encouraged by heaven to start small and begin right where we find ourselves. We can all learn to love God, love ourselves and love our neighbour as ourselves right where we are at. And as we do, the Lord promises to go before and do what only He can do.

So as we walk in radical obedience friends, may we be encouraged to remember that our tiny acts of faith executed on a daily basis will inevitably add up to a glorious destiny. For the liberating truth of the Simple Gospel is that we don’t really need to do grand things for God to make a difference, but only small things with great love.

🤍🎅🏻🤍

Tiny miracles!

I read a blog post by Ann Voskamp earlier this month, friends. And it has easily been one of the most heartfelt and impactful messages to me, this season.

September to me marks what I call a ‘bridge-building’ month. It is a point of convergence between the last few weeks of Summer this year and the ushering in of the Fall. It is that surreal season where the feel of warm cakes and the sensation of ice-cream dripping down my forearm, all seem to beautifully collide and peacefully co-exist.

This is where cup cakes, cookies and coffee beckon me and warm me up toward Fall, yet the precious scent of Summer continues to linger and entice.

Ok. Enough said.

Now back to the post.

Ann here gently encourages us to seize the last few weeks of Summer with passion and zeal. Needless to say, I was deeply moved and made up my heart to do just that. She also attaches a list in her post of some things that we can do in this special season to seize the flavour of Summer in what the year-end still has to offer, and squeeze the delight of childlike wonder as we commit to what I feel can best be described as – tiny miracles.

☆ the feel of cool, running water over my tippy toes

☆ having drippy butterscotch ice-cream

☆ applying pink guava shine lip balm with its fruity scent washing over me

☆ standing in my open balcony under the night sky, listening to the sound of water cascading down a stone wall at the entrance of our building

☆ listening to the sound of the world go by as I slow down and pray

☆ watching the sun set with Jesus and praising Him for painting the sky a different hue each time

☆ hearing the pitter-patter of gentle rain falling in the wee hours of the night

☆ eating fresh kiwi fruit from the market, and letting Jesus teach me to peel & cut it myself for the first time in my life!

Tiny miracles.

Getting myself ready for year-end thus, friends.

Though the thought of woollen socks and hot tea seem to soften me up for Fall, yet there remains honor to be paid to the last few weeks of Summer. And as September builds the bridge in between the seasons, I can’t help but ask,

Care to join me?

🥝