A little child shall lead them

"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them."- Isaiah 11:6

Children often have a spiritual sensitivity and a big-as-life sort of faith. No wonder when Jesus held a little child in His arms He said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14).

In her book Images of Grace, Dr. Diane Komp, a pediatric oncologist, tells how children influenced her spiritual transition from unbelief to faith in God.

"Many times," says Dr. Komp, "I listened politely to parents who groped for God in their most painful hour. I respected them all for their journeys, but I heard no convincing evidence in their revelations that challenged my way of thinking." What did challenge her, though, was a little patient seven years of age. Fighting a losing battle with leukemia, Anna sat up in her hospital bed and exclaimed, "The angels–they’re so beautiful! Mommy, can you see them? Do you hear their singing? I’ve never heard such beautiful singing!" And then the little girl lay back on her pillow and died.

For weeks, the question haunted Dr. Komp: "Have I found a reliable witness?" No, that choir of angels that little Anna described didn’t result in a ‘Saul-on-the-Road-to-Damascus’ kind of conversion experience for the doctor, but it started the process.

Over her many years of practice, Dr. Komp observed that when children die, they often experience a vision or an appearance of Jesus Christ and/or angels which they describe in a simple, matter-of-fact sort of way. In some cases, those children grew up in homes where parents did not even believe in Jesus Christ and His name was never spoken, unless in profanity. Yet these children were able to describe very clearly what they saw and experienced before they died.

The loss of a child is a bitter experience. It can tear couples apart, and causes some to declare war on God. For others it becomes a window to heaven and a foretaste of the reality of the Celestial City, which Jesus went to prepare. In the final week of Jesus’ ministry and life on earth, He told His disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-4, nkjv). - Resource Reading: Revelation 21