Wednesday, December 5, 2007

A Lesson Learned from little kids and Spiderman

As I was conducting a play therapy session with a couple of kids, I was reminded of the verse in Phillipians that says: "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,..." (4:12). Let me explain...the kids are told that they can play with anything they want in a room full of toys for an hour. They aren't given any rules, are not required to clean up, are not told what to do at all (unless, of course, what they are doing is harmful in any way). Sounds like a dream for a little kid...right? Well, one boy thought so. I look over to see child # 1 happily playing with an old-McDonald's nugget box. Out of all the toys in the room to choose from, he was perfectly content...and seemingly filled with joy over this one toy. As I was admiring this situation, I hear child # 2 begin to wine and complain b/c he wanted to play with Spiderman. He went on and on about how "at home, he had Spiderman" and "nothing in this room was as cool as his toy." Amidst over fifty things to choose from, this child could not seem to find anything that he liked b/c he was so focused on what he didn't have.

All this is to to say that I walked away with a visual picture of how I often treat God. He provides me with everything I could ever need and want, yet, I so often am longing for more...and missing out on the very blessings that are right in front of my eyes! Instead of focusing on "Spiderman," I hope to learn as child # 1 certainly demonstrated that I don't need more things, or better things, to make me happy. As Paul had learned in Phillipians, Christ is our ultimate joy and satisfaction, and only when we focus on him can we be content. When I lose focus of Christ, my heart begins to long for more.

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is not hidden with Christ in God." Col. 3:1-3

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