Easter egg hunt

When I was not much more than a toddler, I participated in a local Easter egg hunt. There was a pink Easter bunny walking around and waving, and eggs scattered through a field. My parents put me on the starting line with the other children. I was ready to go.

Someone counted down, “On your mark . . get set . . go!” only for the little kids. And we were off. I toddled out.

About the time I discovered an egg, the announcer was saying, “Go!” again, only, this time, it was for the big kids.

I did not get that egg.

The big kids came racing out. One of them snatched the egg I was going to pick up. And they started picking the field clean of Easter eggs.

Slowly, slowly, I tried to go after eggs. But there was no hope of catching up to the big kids. Fortunately, they missed a few, and I found a few eggs for my basket. But it was hardly a grand success. There were some big prizes offered if your Easter egg had a certain slip of paper inside. I hadn’t collected hardly any and I didn’t get a single one of those big prizes.

Do you ever feel in life like you’re the little kid toddling around with big kids snapping up all the good stuff in life? This has been called a “dog-eat-dog” world. And sometimes, we just feel behind the 8-ball.

God’s Kingdom flips our world upside-down on its head. Like something out of Alice in Wonderland is Jesus’ beatitudes, if we really think about what He was saying in them.

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5, NASB)

Does that sound anything like what they teach us here on earth? If I’d been standing in the crowd that day, I might have wondered what planet Jesus came from.

But here Jesus is telling us about God. God blesses the gentle. The ones who toddle out and gingerly pick up what’s been left behind by others. The ones who make this world a little softer on the edges.

Who are you more like? If you’re the gentle one, take heart. There’s a part of your story that hasn’t been read yet. A surprise chapter waiting toward the end.