A word of wisdom from Judah

You remember that verse in John about Caiaphas prophesying without knowing it or intending to about the way Jesus' death should be interpreted (Check out Jn 11:51)? Well on a much smaller and less serious scale, Judah said something to me just before we left for the US, the significance of which he could not possibly have understood. It was a very innocent moment - fun too, but deeply profound. Here's how it happened:

Judah was playing with his lego, and rather than just sit there passively watching him, I decided to play with him. Actually I didn't really engage (I was thinking about something else) but I wanted him to have the benefit of thinking that I was. Perhaps externalising my frustration at just not getting activities like lego (I've never been much good at lego) I began to randomly stack one piece on another, ignoring their size, shape and colour, to see how high it would get before it toppled over. Judah was clearly put out, and kept saying 'no, NO that's not how you do it Dad!' I persisted assuming that I needed to expand his stubborn little mind to other possibilities, until in frustration he protested "It doesn't matter how high it goes Dad!"

Those words hit me between the eyes. I've often said that God seldom has any interest in revealing the 'grand plan' of our lives and frequently leads us simply by showing us the 'next step' (See Ps 37:23 - one of my favourite verses). I've actually forgotten exactly what thoughts I was preoccupied with that day that were preventing me from playing with my son, but to be honest, based on raw statistics, there is an extremely good chance I was thinking of the distant future (what's after the next step?).

For the first time Judah had my full attention. I looked down and suddenly realised what his project was and why he was so frustrated with me. He too wanted to see how high he could build, but was intent on laying a good foundation so it wouldn't fall over. He was fastidiously covering every square of the green base mat before he would allow the construction to proceed to the second level.

And then I got it. It doesn't matter how high it goes. It just doesn't matter what the distant future looks like. It doesn't matter how or even if every dream I have will come to pass. Actually there's an awful lot that doesn't matter and very little that does. What matters now is following Jesus and taking the next step of obedience. Again I felt God confirm to me the step of faith we had taken in early 06 because for us the next step is laying a foundation - not building a tower.

And then I just lightened up and played lego.