Childlike faith. Like Peter Pan.

My 10 year old daughter came out of her room with her wallet and the $2.00 the “Tooth Fairy” left for her that night.  There was no surprise or awe.  She was just putting her money away.  I said, “Did the Tooth Fairy come last night?”  “Yep.”, she replied.  That’s it.  Complete and total acceptance that a Fairy came, took her tooth and left money.  What faith that is!  Oh how I would give anything to have that kind of magical wonder to believe in Fairies, because my Mom said so.  But just like Peter Pan, doesn’t life creep in over the years and fill us with so much stuff that we “lose our sense of wonder”?  How do we get it back?  Now I don’t mean how do we believe in fairies again.  I mean how do I shed the weight of life so that I can remember…remember what it was like to be carefree, playful, giddy joyful and filled with faith to believe the impossible is possible? 

In Psalm 116:4-7 the Psalmist talks about childlike faith in the midst of trouble.  Take a second to read it.

4Then I called on the name of the Lord:

    “Please, Lord, save me!”

5 

How kind the Lord is! How good he is!

    So merciful, this God of ours!

6 

The Lord protects those of childlike faith;

    I was facing death, and he saved me.

7 

Let my soul be at rest again,

    for the Lord has been good to me.

Often in scripture “childlike” refers to those who are: simple, foolish, or without understanding.  In this verse though, the meaning is: open, honest, innocent, trustful, sincere.  Read the Psalm again with those words in mind.

So how do we get there? How do we travel from hardened adult to open child?  Let's start here:

1.Humble ourselves to admit that we are not the one puling the strings.

Romans 8:28 (NLT) "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Col 1:17 (NAS) "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

2. Relinquish control to the one who knows your story from beginning to end.

Jeremiah 29:11(NLT) "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

3. Trust that His way is better than anything you could come up with.

Isaiah 55:9 (NLT) "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

4. Sit back and watch and see what He does.

Psalm 34:8 (TLB) "Oh, put God to the test and see how kind he is! See for yourself the way his mercies shower down on all who trust in him."

The more we can be humble, relinquish control, trust and sit back... the more space we open up for the Lord to fill with joy, awe and faith to believe for the impossible.

Sue Buza of
mommyville5.blogspot.com