And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

“And a Little Child Shall Lead Them”

Today in sacrament meeting at church we had our ward Primary program, where all the children from ages 3-11 performed the speaking and musical numbers for the remainder of the meeting after the conclusion of the passing of the sacrament.

(Please note the following images are not taken from today's program - they are only visual examples)

 

As I watched all of those young children, in a “mostly” organized fashion sing their songs and speak there little lines and parts (all of which they had written themselves – with their help of their parents in some cases), I was impressed with several spiritual lessons.

The scriptures teach that to inherit the Kingdom of God, “ye must become as a little child” (Matt. 18:3-4, Mark 10:15, Luke 18:16-17, 3 Nephi 11:37-38).  So I thought I would share a few of the things these little children taught me today.

As they each performed their parts, I noticed:

·         Some were timid and quiet

·         Some were loud and animated

·         Some were subdued and reserved

·         Some radiated joy and energy

·         They each had different things they were thankful for

·         They were of different heights, ages, manner of dress, hair color, etc…

And they each expressed their love for the Lord in their own unique way.

But no matter their differences, the parents and grandparents watching them ALL visibly beamed with loving adoration as they performed their parts in the program!

Seen, but quietly leading and assisting these young children were carefully placed adult leaders and teachers who helped provide cues, support, and guidance when a child got confused or temporarily forgot their lines or the words of a song.

I was somewhat amazed as I watched the fairly large group of little children, at how the leaders had carefully planned where each child was seated or standing and how they orchestrated moving them around during the different parts of the program.  It was perfectly performed, but it was inspired in its organization and planning.

Our lives are not much different from that of what I witnessed in the program.  We all come from different backgrounds, and are of different shapes, size and appearance.  Some of us are timid and quiet and others are more boisterous and outspoken.  Some have struggles communicating, while others have the gift to speak and sing their life’s song so others can hear.  In essence we are ALL different, and it is divinely orchestrated that way.

But our Heavenly Parents look down upon our imperfect performances, beaming with hearts full of love and adoration as we strive to do our best to perform our individual parts in life’s program.

They know we are spiritually young and inexperienced, so they have taken great care to organize where we are and how we are placed to better interact and complete our parts in the events of mortality.

They have placed experienced leaders, parents, mentors and teachers around us, and I would go so much as to say even angels, both seen and unseen to guide us and help us along in times when we forget our part or become overwhelmed by our part in the performance.

They know we will perform our parts imperfectly and make mistakes, but they are overjoyed when we are putting forth our best efforts and doing our part.  And while they could send others to perform the part more perfectly, they let us be involved in the performance to allow US the experience of participating and feeling their joy, along with our joy as we do our best.

And it is all divinely and perfectly organized and overseen with love, joy, happiness.  And they are able to overlook our imperfect performances, because there was ONE PERFORMER, another Child of our Father who came and performed HIS part perfectly, not only to show us the way to do it, but also to compensate for our mistakes with His masterful performance which fills in all the gaps and is able to lift the entire show to heavenly heights because of His involvement right along with us.

So I came away grateful for the lessons these little children taught me today, and how they lead and show me the way to have more confidence in performing my imperfect little part in the big show of life.  And these simple concepts helped to more firmly strengthen my testimony of the fact that “WE” are the Lord’s work and His glory (Moses 1:39), and that His focus is to bring about “OUR” individual immortality and eternal life… each and every imperfect one of us!