Faith of a Child
Before I begin tonight's devotional I would want to say thank to Joy McRoy. Joy has done a wonderful job on the devotionals and it has been blessing to me to be able to concentrate on my family. As some of you are aware, my little family has been under a lot of stress with our jobs since November, and it has not been easy. However, I will spare you the sob story, but know this; God is good, and he brought us through. So again, thanks to everyone for their prayers, and thank you Joy for your work. Now on with tonight's TND.
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The other day I was in a conversation with someone and that person asked me what did it mean to "become as little children". I believe that most us who have been raised in church understand that this simply means to have the faith of child. However, the question I have for you tonight is what does it mean to have the faith of a child?
Trusting Your Parents
Children are amazing. As a father I can say this without a doubt, I can also say they are annoying, but that is not tonight's topic. The one thing that I find so amazing about children is in how much faith they have in their parents. No matter what may be happening in their little lives they trust their parents.
My sons, David and Daniel are no exception to this rule. If they fall and get hurt, a hug and kiss from Mom and Dad will make it better. If their toy breaks, Dad will fix it. If they are thirsty, Mom will get them something. If they want something to eat, they trust us to produce it. If they want a piece of candy, Dad has some stashed somewhere for them. If they have a bad dream, rocking with Mom or Dad will make the nightmare go away. If they need anything, Mom and Dad can do it, and they can do it now.
This faith that my children have in me is both a blessing and a curse. I am proud to know that my children believe in me so much. I am blessed that their faith in Renee and I is unwavering. In their eyes we can do anything they need or want. Nevertheless, no matter how much faith my children may have in us, we are still human, and we cannot solve everything. This is curse of their faith in us, my wife and I are fallible, and we make mistakes, and someday soon we will fail them, and their unwavering faith in us will diminish.
This is only natural, because as they grow older, they will begin to slowly understand that Mom and Dad cannot solve everything, but we will do the best that I can. However, it is during this time of their great faith for us, we as parents must teach them that their faith in us, should actually be in God.
Trusting God
Matthew 7:11 is a little confusing at first, but if you change the word "evil" to "human", the scripture makes a little more since. I will paraphrase:
"If I, being human, can do good for my children, what could God do for me, his child, if I only but asked?"
As I stated before, soon my children will one day understand that Renee and I cannot do everything for them. We do not know all the answers, we cannot always take the hurt away, and we will make mistakes. However, God is perfect and does know the answers, he can take the hurt away, and he does not make mistakes.
Can you imagine what things could be done in our life if we could only have faith in God like our children have faith in us. Think back to your childhood, how much faith did you have in your parents as a toddler? You trusted them, so why not trust God?
Learning to Trust God
Let us be honest, trusting God is not an easy thing for us do. We say it is simple, but as we grow older we become jaded to the world and to broken promises that it has made. However, Jesus made it simple for us, by only asking us to have a little faith. Not much, just a little.
It is from that little faith that a great faith can grow. It can become as the unwaivering faith of child in their parents. Jesus said:
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:4
So let us begin to trust God, let us have the faith him, in doing so nothing can be impossible, and our reward in heaven shall be great.
