The Invisible Visible God

Santa Claus. The Tooth Fairy. These are just a couple of the endless imaginary people that children are exposed to.

However, as our children physically and emotionally mature they realize that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy were never really real. At that moment, they no longer "believe" in them, but become aware that it was all fabricated to entertain them.

Fun as that all may be, it is frightening to think though that some children may place Jesus Christ into that category of imaginary people. We, as parents, talk about Jesus all the time, we read about Him, and we pray to Him, but do our children truly believe in Him? Do they know the difference between children fables and spiritual realities?

Every day I talk to my children about Jesus Christ. They are almost always attentive and receptive to what I have to say, but when they are scared or frustrated the truth comes out that they question His reality.

"How come I can't see Him?" or "Why can't I hear His voice?" are just some of the questions that are asked of us. I don't know about you, but when these questions come I find it difficult to explain to them how to believe in something that they cannot see, hear, or feel, but it is absolutely necessary that we do!

If we truly want our children to live a life that glorifies God then we must enable them to see Him, hear Him, and feel Him. When they do, then they will be able to see that He is not an imaginary person; instead they will see Him as He is and be in awe. The natural result of them seeing Him, hearing Him, and feeling Him will be to worship Him.

HOW CAN THEY SEE HIM?

The Bible says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8 NKJV). Children are said to be the most pure in heart because they have not been tainted by the world as much as adult. Jesus reiterates this fact as He states, "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it" (Mark 10:15 NKJV).

Although children have purer hearts than we do, we need to ensure their hearts are clean as they come to see God. If there is any impurity that is sitting on that clean little heart, we need to guide them to confess that sin and to turn to God so it could be washed away. Then, once they stand with a pure heart they shall see God. However, the way they will see Him is quite different than they are accustomed to seeing people. We need to reveal to our children that one day (when we die) we will see God face to face, but until then we can see Him in a different way.

The Book of Psalms beautifully portrays the concept of seeing God with spiritual eyes: "Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law" (Psalm 119:18 NKJV). We need to instruct our children that God is so special that He is seen with the eyes of our hearts, which sees Him as He is--a beautiful, spiritual Savior. In order to see Him this way they have to have the Holy Spirit within them to enable those spiritual eyes of our hearts to be opened, so that they can see Him in people around them, in the natural beauties of earth itself, and in their own lives as He works all things out according to His perfect will.

HOW CAN THEY HEAR HIM? 

One day my son was acting up inside his room with his brother and when I entered the room my younger son was in tears.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing," my older son immediately replied.

I then told my older son to go to his room while I talked with Jesus so that He could tell me what had happened. After several minutes I went into his room and asked him again what had happened and he responded, "Well, what did Jesus say happened?"

Instead of our children relying on us to hear what Jesus says, we need to instruct them how to hear Him themselves. In the Old Testament, God spoke to prophets and sometimes He spoke to others through  raging fires, clouds, etc. However, in the New Testament we see that God speaks to man through the Son of Man--Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is aptly called the Word of God: "He [was] clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God" (Rev. 19:13 NKJV).

We need to explain to our children that God speaks to us through the Bible, which is His Word that was spoken to men to edify, encourage, and guide us. We need to tell them that they can hear Him speak through the various love letters He wrote to them through the Word.

HOW CAN THEY FEEL HIM?

Feelings are more openly felt by children than adults. They innocently, yet, bluntly will be the first to tell you when they are embarrassed, angry, or happy. We need to explain to our children that they can feel God, not with their hands, but in their hearts when they pray to Him, obey Him, and worship Him. There is no feeling that more accurately portrays the presence of the Lord than when one is worshiping Him.

"You  will show me the path of life; In Your presence is the fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forever more" (Psalm 16:11 NKJV).

 So how can we set apart fantasy from reality? By allowing our children to see God, hear God, and feel God. When they do so then they will know He is real and they will worship Him in word and in truth!