Pawns? Or cherished possessions?

As he looked out the window of the car today, my four and a half year old commented that our world is kind of like a Playmobil world. As I so often do, I wondered where this was going...

So I asked.

"Well, it's kind of like we're all Playmobil people, and these are all Playmobil cars and houses and stuff, and God's the one moving them all around."

Heavy. How do I respond to that? Who hasn't felt "pushed around" by God once in a while? Are we really just pawns in some cosmic playset? I confess that my head sometimes feels chewed on like my son's Playmobil guys' heads are...Only Playmobil families don't have dying little sisters or feuding families or car trouble. They don't have natural disasters, droughts, or floods (okay, the Noah's Ark set should have a flood, but it seems to have only happy pairs of animals instead). And for that matter, if we are just pawns, what is up with all these trials?

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jeremiah 29:11). Though my son may have dire plans for his Playmobil guys--helicopter crashes and swordfights and frightening hair removal (if your children have ever pulled off their Playmobil guys' hair, you'll know what I mean)--God's plans for us do not hinge upon what sort of disaster He can manufacture for us next. After all, He wasn't pushing Adam and Eve around in the garden. No, we're not pawns lined up for the next disaster, but precious children, cherished possessions, fumbling our way around trying to do it on our own. Maybe we should ask God to push us around more often, come to think of it. Or at least to put us back on our feet when we topple over yet again, to put our little accessories back in our hands when we drop them yet again.

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).

"Come to Me you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28 ).

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:1-3).

Yeah, push me around like that, God. Please. Pick me up again and again and again, give me rest, guide me, restore me.

No, I didn't preach a little sermon in the car. In fact, I didn't have time even to think about it, as my son continued: "Only it's not exactly like Playmobil. 'Cause we can move around all by ourselves and Playmobil guys can't."

Bummer.