Wonder blossomed in her heart, accompanied by an inexplicable thrill consuming her senses. She did it! She reached her destination!
The gates swung open for her, and the sojourner walked out of the wilderness, into the kingdom.
As a child.
The gatekeeper — the dragonfly-winged giant, Thomas — had told her she could only enter if she was a child.
What did it matter? She was living in His kingdom, among His people!
“When can I see Him?” she asked Thomas.
His brow quirked up. “See Who?”
“The One Who loves me, the One Whose love compelled me to go through the wilderness, so I can be with Him in His kingdom.”
“You’re certainly in His kingdom now, kid.” Delight danced in Thomas’s eyes. “But you have a long way to go, a lot yet to learn, before you can witness the fullness of His kingdom come alive. You will only encounter a portion of His kingdom once you have grown up enough to qualify for the next portion.”
Desperation gripped her. Full of righteous indignation, she stomped her feet on the ground. “This will not do! I have come all this way! Does He not acknowledge what I walked through in the wilderness, what I’ve already conquered? Is it not enough?”
Suddenly, the wonder, the thrill, and the gratefulness left her. She could think only of the trials of the wilderness, not what He had done to help her overcome.
“How can He treat me this way? How is this love?”
Bemused, Thomas floated in the air, his wings flapping as he crossed his arms over his stomach.
She paced the cobblestone road back and forth, back and forth. She stopped only when he chuckled. “What’s so funny?” she demanded.
Thomas shrugged. “This isn’t the first time a sojourner entered the kingdom, furious over how they could not immediately enter the palace and be with the King. What did you expect, kid? The King has brought you through the wilderness — proof of His love — but He is still King! And you… Well, you’re still a child in all the ways that matter.”
As if to prove his point, the sojourner stomped her foot on the ground as her righteous indignation morphed into plain indignation. If they wanted a child, they would get a child!
Manna
Verses for Meditation
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…” Matthew 18:3
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you 1 Peter 5:5-6 (ESV)
Author’s Reflections
For many who have gone through a wilderness season, it can sometimes feel like the wilderness has matured us into a Christian who is a long way from the Christian who had first come to know Christ. We’ve traversed a wilderness and survived! Surely, we have proved ourselves! Surely, we can be entrusted with more! Haven’t we fought battles and triumphed? Haven’t we endured through all the trials and temptations the enemy threw our way?
We have, haven’t we?
Now what?
There’s a pitfall at the end of a victory over the wilderness. It’s the pitfall of pride. As we overcome, oftentimes without us knowing, so creeps in the temptation to feel like we’re entitled to some sort of reward. God knows this, so He brings us into a season of childlikeness. He calls us to be as a child, so that we can depend on Him, and learn how to flourish in His kingdom as a kingdom child.
This is from allegorical devotional, The Kingdom Child.