The opinions of this editorial are based on years of exposure to little people, some would call them children. I call them little people because I believe in those little bodies is a world of knowledge. We think we are in charge and in control but it’s just the opposite. Little people know exactly what buttons to push to get bigger people to act in immature ways. Humorist and writer Erma Bombeck once said, “When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out.” That’s what I mean. Kids control us, not the other way around. Here are a few observations.
The person who made up the slogan “Fun for the whole family”, more than likely didn’t have kids. Little people have a way of making sure the whole family does not have fun. Babies actually pass a hereditary disease UP to their parents, it’s called insomnia.
Little people can control the way adults use language. Want proof? They know they aren’t in BIG trouble until their middle name is attached to their first name. Want more proof? Little people have the ability to humiliate the adult in public any time they want by simply repeating what you said in private. Little people can affect your health. How many parents have been driven to a headache and must reach for the aspirin bottle. The best way to get rid of their headache is to follow the directions carefully, especially the part that says, “keep away from children.”
My point in simple. When you think how often our kids control every aspect of our life its amazing. And yet there is something magical about this as well. Too bad there is one area of our life that children don’t control. They don’t control our God given right to laugh. As we continue our devotions on "life has expirations" we must not let laughter expire. Here’s something to think about. Researchers say a child laughs about 400 times a day while the adult laughs around 15 times a day. What happens to the other 385 laughs for the adult?
The 385 laughs are lost in the world of worry. When we lose control it’s replaced with worry. We were little people once and we loved how we would control the big people with our actions and words. As we grew we lost some control in our life and it was replaced with the unknown, the joy stealer called worry.
Worry robs big people of laughter. Kids don’t let circumstances affect them. They know mom or dad will take care of it. Our kids jump in the pool knowing you’ll be there to catch them. A child doesn’t understand the impact of you losing your job. They only know that dinner will be on the table as always. Little people have the ability to trust and have faith even when circumstances warrant concern. Our extra 385 laughs are lost on daily concerns and the lack of control. We feel we must fix this problem. God wants us to get back to our child-like laughter and recoup some of those missing laughs. How?
In I Peter 5:7 it says, “casting all your anxiety (worry) upon Him because He cares for you.”
We must realize that God cares about us more than we could ever care for our own children? If our kids are willing to trust us, imperfect people with lots of issues, how much more should we trust our heavenly Father who is perfect and has no issues.
“Casting” means to throw off. It means we need to learn how to take worries and concerns and literally throw them at God. Once you throw it at God you can’t take it back. He’s a big God and can handle it. Let go of control and become a little person again. Take one worry you have today and give it to God. Really give it to Him. Walk away from that concern and realize how much he cares for you. When you do, maybe you’ll laugh a couple hundred more times a day.