Please repeat

"Papa, tell us the bear story.”  The bear story is a family legend.  In the event, I want to use it for an illustration in the future, suffice it to say, a bear ate our picnic lunch in Yellowstone when I was very young.

The grandchildren asked Papa to tell the story often.  I wonder if they thought Papa would scare the bear off and save our lunch the next time he told it.  Wouldn’t it end the same as the dozens of times he had told it before?  Papa never denied them the story. It also ended the same way.  The bear drinking our milk out of paper cups.

Children draw comfort from the same story over and over.  Most children have a handful of bedtime stories rather than a different one each night.  I think the adult reader is the one that encourages the child to expand their horizons and hear a new story.

Children love repetition so they will learn it well.  They will memorize the movie plot, the scenes and the dialogue.  I remember thinking, "OK we've seen that  movie too many times  " when Adam was doing both sides of the dialogue. (Now that I think of it, maybe this explains leaping from one piece of furniture to another during the Western shootout scenes!) My brief internet search reminded me that children are celebrating their accomplishment (of memorizing) by participating in the dialogue and the songs.

A child's world is full of unpredictability.  They do not have control over their life.  They relish the feeling of predictability when they hear the same story and they feel more control over their own life.

As I read Deuteronomy 2:18-23 the other morning, I even thought, “Gee, I’ve already read this, in the last chapter just a few days ago.”  I already knew He had given land to Lot’s descendants and to Esau’s descendants.

But then these words jumped from the page: “The Lord had done the same...”

Now that is comfort.  The Lord had done the same for others.  He will do the same for you.  There are times when only someone else who has experienced the same situation can truly bring comfort.  Years ago, shortly after my mother died, an acquaintance in another state, lost her mother.  In my sympathy card I jotted that, “I believe I know how you feel.”  Later when we saw each other, she told me that my card gave her extra comfort because she knew I had experienced a very similar loss.

The history lessons of the Old Testament should bring us comfort.  God will do the same for us. In today’s world, that brings us surprises, not all of them welcomed, on a daily basis, we need the repetitive message “The Lord had done the same”.

This tells me the Lord knows how to do it as He’s done it before,
The Lord will do it and
it will be the best. 

I think the Israelites knew they rated a bit above Lot’s descendants and Esau’s descendants.  I always think of myself first so if God did it for someone else, when He does it for me it will be even better.

So I do need to be more like a child and relish the repetition of the old Bible stories.  They will help me remember that God is in control of my life and thus is predictable. God will do the same for me.