The Faith of a Child

The Faith of a Child

Good morning! I hope your weekend was restful and refreshing.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of listening to my daughter pray and talk about Jesus. Her eyes lit up and she prayed with such enthusiasm and wonder. Her prayers were not jaded by life’s doubts and troubles. She prayed with trusting innocence, expecting God to respond.

It is with this thought of child like faith that I bring you this morning’s encouragement.

Matthew 18:2-4 (NLT)

Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. [3] Then he said, "I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. [4] Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

One of the things I appreciate about children who are my daughters age is their honesty. My daughter is at the age where she will “gladly” fess up to being disobedient. There is a transparency in her life good or bad. She has no ego to boost, no corporate ladder to climb, no image to uphold. She is simply Caitlyn and all that being Caitlyn entails.

Unfortunately too many of us have lost our child like faith. We have forgotten what it means to approach the Savior with wide-eyed amazement and wonder. We have become calloused by the hard knocks of life and we have created for ourselves an image we feel we must uphold.

One of the greatest detriments to our faith and our witness is our need to project a certain image. We have settled for living artificially instead of authentically. Unfortunately at some point our image cracks, we let our guard down and others see the real us and not the image we have tried to project. So instead of the image we have sought to portray we instead seem hypocritical or superficial.

Sadly, we forget that God sees right through our facades. He knows what we are truly like and is never fooled by our projected image. One of the most refreshing things I have ever learned in my life is to be authentic. As a pastor it can be a scary thing to let people see your faults and weaknesses. In the long run it creates an environment of greater trust and openness.

If we are to ever experience the fullness of childlike faith we have to learn to be transparent. To let people see us warts and all. It is through this transparency that God’s power and presence become more visible in our lives.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)

Each time he said, "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me.

As you begin this week, I encourage you to strive for authenticity. It takes effort to hold up the facades that we hide behind. Approach God’s throne with a childlike faith and ask Him to reveal His strength in your weakness, trusting that your prayer has already been answered.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl