A preacher was giving the children's message during church. For this part of the service, he would gather all the children around him and give a brief lesson before dismissing them for children's church.

On this particular Sunday, he was using squirrels for an object lesson on industry and preparation. He started out by saying, "I'm going to describe something, and I want you to raise your hand when you know what it is." The children nodded eagerly.

"This thing lives in trees (pause) and eats nuts (pause)..." No hands went up. "And it is grey (pause) and has a long bushy tail (pause)..." The children were looking at each other, but still no hands raised. "And it jumps from branch to branch (pause) and chatters and flips its tail when it's excited (pause)..."

Finally one little boy tentatively raised his hand. The preacher breathed a sigh of relief and called on him. "Well...," said the boy, "I know the answer is Jesus...but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me!"

I have to smile at a child who expects the answer to every question to be "Jesus"! But then again, I wonder how much better life would be if I lived the same way. What if I expected the answer to every question to be "Jesus"?

Questions like: How can I possibly cope in the face of the disaster I'm facing (divorce, rebellious children, financial troubles, disease, death of a loved one)? How can I possibly find the strength to overcome the addiction I'm enslaved to? How can I salvage a marriage where we don't love each other anymore? How do I deal with people who want to hurt me? How can I overcome the bitterness and resentment I'm struggling with? How can I find true joy and peace in life?

Whatever your question, may you have the faith of a child who says, "I know the answer is Jesus." Because it is.

"[God has] set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels - everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment." (Col. 1:13-17, The Message)