Matthew 11: 25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(The day before I was led to these verses, I was wailing & whining about what God was calling me to with my children. I honestly think I felt for a brief moment what Jonah experienced. Just call me “Jonette”! I was sweating, exhausted, running on empty already at 10 a.m. in the morning wondering how I would make it through the rest of the day with my children- not to mention the rest of the summer! I was like “how could I ever even considered the thought of possibly homeschooling them at some point?” That was me… totally freaking out!)
So, the next day (once I had calmed down & “came back to” after my tantrum) I asked the Lord God how come He was speaking so clearly today but yesterday I was trying to hear from Him & could not. It seemed He replied “I had to wait until you were done with your tantrum before I spoke. You would not have heard Me anyway.” Then, I felt Him continue to say “If you allow me, I will teach you how to parent your children as I have & will continue to parent you, My child.” He certainly had my ear! I mean, I never had a Godly parent modeled for me as a child nor have I ever been trained up by anyone in this way, so Who better than my Heavenly Father Himself to teach me?!?!
He went on & showed me Matthew 11- that God through Jesus shows things to those of us who approach Him like children & by keeping me around the children, He is actually making sure that I keep that child-like faith because my tendency is to become “wise & learned” (like one of the two groups mentioned in the above Scripture verses). EEEK! That stung, but I know it to be true. I LOVE learning. I desire knowledge & live for researching answers to questions that come up. But my Gracious King spoke so lovingly to me when He told me that I was like a student who had been in school for a long time. I had a vision of a graduate of college who had received their Associate’s degree to then move on to receive their Bachelor’s degree to then move on to receive a Master’s degree to then move on to receive a Doctorate. There was a problem with this “graduate in my vision”, though: This person did not ever want go out & actually practice the trade in which they had learned about all that time, though. It was as if the Holy Spirit was whispering “You have all you need to get started. And I will continue to teach you more, but the rest can only be learned by actually getting “out there” & doing it.” Here he showed me: Matthew 11:19 “But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
He also said & showed me that I will learn more about being His (My Creator Elohim’s child) by being around my own children. He brought me to Matthew 18:2 He (Jesus) called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My Name welcomes Me.” Well, that just made me take a huge GULP! Yahweh (my Loving Redeemer) was showing me that I had “all this knowledge” by reading the Bible, listening to teachings on parenting as well as seeking out others who had done it well & everything in between. But what He wanted me to “know” here is that I needed be like a child, think like a child & act like a child- both in the sense of being His child but also by being more involved in the lives of my children in the way He had planned for me. That is why I chose the Name “Yahweh” when I just wrote the previous sentence. This being because of course I knew I was a child of the Most High God, but He wanted me to know Him even more intimately. And the Lord has chosen a specific path just for me to be able to grow up in Him as He also allows me to grow in that same intimacy with my children! Wow, talk about “REDEMPTION”! I mean, at this point I was totally speechless (which I laugh to think about now even while typing this because I believe that God- knowing I was speechless by this point- had me EXACTLY where He wanted me to be so that I would not talk but rather continue to listen!) I just love God’s humor & how He gets me to settle down in such a lovingly, considerate Fatherly way. (Did you also catch how right there He just taught me how to get my own kids to quiet down by showing them that I want to spend time with them!) I mean “wow”… All in this same moment, the Lord is showing me His love for me, ministering to my heart, disciplining me AND continuing to teach me how to be this parent He’s called me to be to these children! God is so faithful. Reading back to the beginning of this page, isn’t that just what He said He would do for me? : )
To describe what I am feeling at this point in receiving this download from my Abba Father is the word “awe”. So while I am still in awe, I shall leave you with what He left me with on this day. And this is the clencher! The final Word He gave to me was in one chapter over in Matthew 19 verses 13 & 14: “Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.” Jesus ever-so gently spoke to my heart by saying: “Stop running away as if there is some other way you will find out more about Me. You are running from THE very thing that will bring you closer to Me… and that is the children.”
So, there you have it. I, Cristine Pina, went from a woman who never seemed to feel like I was ready to take on such a task without more preparation is not only hearing from my Heavenly Father that it is time, but that I am ready because THIS IS THE VERY THING HE UNIQUELY CRAFTED ME TO DO- to walk out being His child AND a Godly mother to these children in a beautifully, interwoven bow that only He could tie together! <3