Declarations and Questions (of a four-year old)

Last Wednesday night I was on my way home from church with Brenna. We stopped at a red light just a few blocks from the church. As we waited for the light to turn green, a big firetruck came roaring past us. Brenna asked me if they were going to help someone who was hurt. I told her it was very possible that they were going to help someone in need. Without hesitation, she made her first amazing declaration of the evening, "We need to pray!" she said. And so we did. We prayed for unknown people facing unknown challenges being cared for by unknown firemen and paramedics. We prayed. Brenna informed me that everytime she hears or sees sirens, she stops to pray and ask God to help those in need. When I told Jennifer about our firetruck encounter, she told me that Brenna had been praying each time she saw emergencies in progress. Sirens. Emergencies. People in need. We need to pray! If my four-year old gets it, I can't believe how often I or others like me don't get it. When the sirens of life indicating an emergency go off, our initial and immediate response should be to pray. Thank you, Brenna, for reminding your daddy about the priority of prayer. God says, "Call unto Me, and I will answer you..." (Jeremiah 33:3)

Later that night, I was praying with Brenna at bedtime. I had just prayed for our families in Houston and for their safety and protection from the approaching storm off the Texas coast. Brenna asked me if the storm was coming towards Houston where our family was. I told her yes, and that is why we were praying for them. As I was leaving her room, she asked me a speech-stopping question. "Why is God doing this, daddy?" For Brenna, my silence was deafening and all too long. I'm sure my speechless seconds seemed like an eternity to her. I couldn't believe the question on everyone's mind was verbalized by my concerned, compassionate four-year old. After an eternity of silent seconds, she asked a second heart-wrenching question. "Is it so people will die?" For a change, there was not a hint of sarcasm or silliness in her voice. She was as serious as could be. And I remained, well, speechless. I knew in my mind that people had already died in the path of Hurricane Ike. And I knew the likelihood was good that others possibly would when it hit the U.S. mainland on the coast of Texas. So in her mind (and maybe in yours or others' mind), if God allowed this storm and could equally make it stop (as he did in Matthew 14:22-33) but chose not to, then is He responsible for any subsequent deaths from the storm that He allowed?

I prayed for wisdom in those brief but life-changing moments that God would give me the words to share with Brenna. I wanted to be honest with her, but I didn't want to wax eloquent in a manner that she wouldn't understand. In a nutshell, I simply shared with her that God allows storms like these so that people will trust Him and turn to Him. Do we really mean it when we pray and ask God to do "whatever it takes" to turn people to Him or turn people back to Him, especially those whom we love and care about? Will we trust Him even when He works in ways that make no sense humanly speaking? Thank you, Lord, for reminding me through my four-year old and Hurricane Ike that You are truly in control and completely trustworthy. posted by John