Even the Smallest Seeds Grow

Last night, as we were wrapping up our Sunday evening, Nathaniel asked me, “Mama, what if one day we find out that God is not real?” Nathaniel is nine years old and he loves Mario. For a while it was a slight obsession. He asks a lot of questions and often struggles to understand answers. He is quite literal in the way he processes. I have to be careful with him. He is “on the autism spectrum.”

“Mama, what if one day we find out that God is not real?” I turned around from my organizing the bar (I’m always organizing something) and I gave him my undivided attention. He had already fluttered away from me, clapping his hands and vocalizing as he does. I said, “Nathaniel that is not even a possibility.” He pressed, “But how do you know?” I said, “Because Jesus rose from the dead and people saw Him. Real men and women testified that the Man Who claimed to be the Son of God, who pointed to and testified of the Father in Heaven was alive after He was publicly crucified…”

I continued, “We have evidence for the Faith which we have received. We believe because Jesus said that He would prove Himself by rising again and He did. People saw Him, lots of people!”

I could see his confidence growing. His little smile said to me that I had satisfied his curiosity. Family, the worst thing we can do in situations like these with our children is to fail to detect Satan’s aim. The enemy of our soul – and theirs wants to plant seeds of doubt in our children. The smallest seed will do it…doesn’t take much at all.

I’ve heard and even used the argument, “Well if I get to the end and find that there is no God, well at least I lived a moral life.” This is a horrible argument. There is no comfort in that. Paul told the Corinthians, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19  A hope that is not eternal is no hope at all!

Again, I’ve heard people say, “well I just believe…we must have faith. I feel Him, I know He is real.” This is also weak when used alone as a defense. We want to build our children’s confidence in the One Who redeems them! We want to root out any seeds of doubt at all. We can do this in very easy ways. We have a public and spiritual Faith. It subjects itself to public scrutiny and fact-checking. Nothing that happened to Jesus or His early followers was done in the dark! The Apostles confirmed over and over that they saw Jesus raised after He was publicly crucified. We have a historical record of the conspiracy between the chief priests and the roman guard to say that His followers came and took His body. That kind of plotting and scheming is not happening for a decomposing religious leader.

We must tell and show our kids that Jesus rose and people saw Him. He testified of the eternal God. He anchored our hope in His bodily resurrection. He didn’t sneak around after He rose. He walked and talked with folks, comforted them, restored one, let a doubter touch Him, ate fish after just appearing in the midst of the apostles, and on and on. Why do we have this kind of record? Indeed, we know that there was much more that didn’t even get recorded! But why do we have what did get recorded??

Our brother, the Apostle John told us in his account, John 20:30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His Name.”

God wants us and our children to believe. Don’t run from these questions, they are opportunities for spiritual gardening; pull weeds and bad seeds and then plant the Truth. God has equipped you with everything you need!

Meeke Addison is wife to Wil and mom to their six children. Meeke is a New Orleans native with over 20 years of ministry experience. After serving as a missionary alongside her husband, she worked with the ministry of American Family Radio from 2007-2023. Her work with AFR began in 2007 as a stay-at- home mom in Louisiana, when she accepted an invitation to co-host a local AFR morning show. In 2008, the Addison family of four moved from Louisiana to Mississippi to join the ministry of AFA full-time until 2023.

 Meeke is a conference speaker, women’s teacher, and author. As a pro-family activist, she keeps a close eye on politics, pop culture, and the Church. Meeke focuses on equipping everyday Christians to effectively engage and transform culture. Her mission is calling Christians to make sound connections between cultural/political activism and Biblical conviction.

 Meeke co-hosts the Culture Proof Podcast alongside her husband, Wil. Of all the roles Meeke fills, the most important are wife to Wil and mother and chief educator of their six children. The kitchen table must be big enough to handle daily life and robust discipleship!