“Do you think I should get a running start?”

These words were spoken by Eric Applebaum, the young boy who hangs out at Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (a magical toy store) each day. He is speaking to Molly Mahoney, Mr. Magorium’s apprentice.

The scene went something like this. Eric is standing in front of the toy store. His hat has somehow gotten lodged way up above him on the sign in front of the store. He is jumping up trying to reach it. Molly approaches and asks what he is doing. He tells her he is trying to get his hat. Molly tells him he’s going to need a ladder but Eric says, “Nah!” Molly then says to Eric, “That’s at least 7 feet high.” Eric’s response?

“Do you think I should get a running start?”

I absolutely loved that. He wasn’t deterred by the seemingly insurmountable task at hand. He just thought that perhaps he needed to approach it a different way. Ahhh, the optimism and resilience of youth.

I can recall a time when I had that. When I was a young girl, I would stand in my yard and look up at the sky. I loved the fluffy white clouds that reminded me of cotton balls set against the beautiful expanse of Carolina blue sky. I remember thinking that the clouds didn’t seem very far away. I wanted so desperately to touch one. I wondered if they really felt like cotton.

So, I would stretch as far as I could in hopes of actually being able to reach one. Like Eric, I would jump, but the clouds remained elusive. I never tried getting a running start, though. Maybe that was my problem. I wonder why I don’t reach for the sky anymore.

Luke 1:37 states, “For nothing is impossible with God.” On the one hand I think, “Dawn, you can’t touch the sky. You were a child. You didn’t know any better. Now you’re an adult, and you know that sort of thing can’t happen.”

But on the other hand, I have to ask, “Do I believe God’s Word to be true?” That verse says nothing. Not “most” things, not “some” things. NO thing. So standing on that premise, I actually could touch the sky if God chose for me to do so.

I didn’t have any trouble believing when I was a child that I could do it, so why do I have trouble believing it now when I know the Lord who created the sky and believe He is all-powerful?

But isn’t this what we do as adults? We become practical, jaded even. Those things we had no trouble believing as children seem impossible to us as adults.

Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me. Matthew 18:2-5 (The Message)

I think we need to remember this as adults when we are seeking to move forward in whatever it is that God has called us to do. No matter how seemingly impossible the task may be, God has told us in His Word through the words of His Son, Jesus, that “nothing is impossible” with Him.

Jesus also said that we need to have the faith of a child, simple and elemental. When you pray, no matter how monumental the request may be, do you believe that God will answer? Do you believe He can truly use you to accomplish His purposes?

Go stand in the yard and look up at the sky. You can touch the clouds. Even if it is only metaphorically speaking, it can still be done. And if on the first try, you are unsuccessful, well then, maybe you just need to get a running start. The God of the Universe is standing there beside you, and He will lift you up. So, run I say! RUN!