lifted hands

The loud beat and melodic sound of worship music was blaring around us. Five hundred college students were singing their hearts out to God like they were auditioning for Heaven’s choir. There I stood, a mama holding her Baby Lady, so happy to be lifting my hands in praise to the One who loves me so much.

“If you want, you can lift your hands in worship,” I tell her.

“No,” she quietly answers, and hides her face in my shoulder.

Five minutes later I look at her and that sweet chubby hand, the one that is growing too fast for this Mama’s heart, is lifted up high above her head.

I swoon.

“If you close your eyes, sometimes you can hear God’s voice deep in your heart,” I say, all close to her ear because the music is so loud.

“No,” she says again. But the next time I glance down her hand is lifted and her big blue eyes are closed and she looks like an angel right there, balanced on my hip.

A moment later her lips are moving in a whispered prayer as the worship leader leads everyone into a moment of quiet prayer to seek the voice of God.

I lean in and I hear her simple prayer repeating, “Yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus.”

Baby Lady is secure enough to say no to Mama’s suggestions, and wise enough to say yes to God. How does a three-year-old know to do that?

Jesus talked about children like the her. It’s right there in Matthew 21.

“There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
“‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

Saying “no” to God once doesn’t have to mean you can’t live the life of obedient “yes”.

It is only the pride of a world-worn heart that keeps us from changing our minds. Baby Lady wasn’t ashamed to take her Mama’s advice after first rejecting it. Master of her moment, she owned her choice when she knew it was a good one. Sometimes people need time to decide what to do.

Working out our salvation with fear and trembling is a monumental task because it takes place in our hearts, not in our hands. God’s vineyard is no place for the disinterested heart. We promise to pay with our whole hearts, souls, and minds when we enter the gate.

Should a part of our heart be longing for something other than His will, we trespass on holy ground. Once more, we must submit ourselves and live the life of yes. It’s not always easy. It can be embarrassing. But we can all benefit from a slice of humble pie every now and then.

A humble heart that fears the Lord turns our “no” into a life full of “yes”. Just like my sweet blue-eyed girl, we can lift our hands and close our eyes and whisper yes with the lips that were so negative in the past. The beautiful sound of submission will rise to God as soul-formed music, and we will wonder that we ever thought of denying ourselves the chance to trust so great a God.

After we had prayed, the Baby Lady looked up and told me, “I want to go see Daddy.” I know her mind was thinking of her earthly father, but I hope her heart was longing also for her Father in Heaven.

I walked her up the aisle, feeling thankful for three-year-old hearts that know only how to love with pure joy. All I could think was what a blessing it is to be alive.