The Faith of a Child

I was in Walmart (I mean, really, where else would I be?) and my attention is drawn to a little girl who can't be more than three years old. Her face is turned up to see the face of one of the biggest men I have seen recently. She is looking up, up, up just to look into his eyes and I hear her say the word, "Daddy...." I don't know what came after that because I was lost in the expression on her face. She had this look of complete adoration. And you know, just by her face, that her daddy can move mountains. Her daddy can do no wrong. You know that she trusts that man because he is her daddy. No questions, no doubts, just...well...faith. She can't explain it. It hasn't even occurred to her that it may warrant an explanation. That man is her world and in him all things are held together. Oh wait...that sounded like a Bible verse... Sure did. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17 That little girl had a child's faith in her daddy. We are called to have that same faith in our Daddy as well. Why? Because children trust without question, they believe what their parents' say because of that faith and they act on what their parents' say because they know that whatever they were told to do is right just because of who said it. Isn't it about time we went back to trust our Daddy God that way? Imagine the adventures He will take us on if did. Imagine the relationship that will develop if we just trusted and did what our Daddy told us to do.

"and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

Catch Me, Daddy

WHERE ARE YOU, LORD?

Have you been there?  Are you there right now?  Are you tired, weary, and battle worn?

God is there.  He promises He is always with us.  But what about those times when we don't understand and we are asking questions but hear nothing?

I have this image that keeps replaying itself in my mind of a little girl standing on the side of a pool.  Her daddy is in the pool with his arms open saying, "Jump, honey, I'll catch you!"  The little girl gets ready to jump but still looks unsure.  Her body tenses like she will jump then it deflates as the doubt takes over.  Suddenly her face changes, she stands taller and backs away from the pools edge and with all she has she runs and jumps straight into her daddy's arms!  Of course he catches her and they laugh.  All the fear she felt has fully melted away as she says, "Do it again, Daddy!"

Some of us can relate to that image.  For others, it isn't so easy.

But God is that Daddy.  He is the perfect Parent!  When we are infants in Christ, God holds us just as surely and tenderly as a parent holds a newborn.  As we get older and mature He lets us take steps on our own but we still cling to His hand.  We grow to trust Him and know He is always there because we can feel Him.  But our loving Lord knows that faith is not about what we feel.  It is about putting one foot in front of the other even in the dark.

And He asks us to jump.

Wait...WHAT?  What do you mean, "Jump?"  He repeats the request and we say, Just come get my hand so I know you will catch me.  Doubts fill us, we tremble, we plead but God doesn't come to the side of the pool.  He waits.

And one of two things happen to us in that moment.  We either decide God has left us and we let the enemy win with fear and doubt OR we dig deep, remember the Hand that has never let us fall, back away from the edge, run, and JUMP.

His strong arms encircle us. Our fear is immediately forgotten because fear cannot be where love is and we lean our head back to look into His face and say, Do it again, Daddy!

"The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.

He will exult over you with joy,

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

~Zephaniah 3:17