Misty Fitch | Fearfully Made

The bible tells us we should have a childlike faith, but what does that mean to you?  I look to my 6 year old to show me what a childlike faith means.

When you were a child, you probably believed everything whether it was true or not.  I will say, though, that my son questions everything, and I absolutely love that about him.  He’s already reached the point where he questions what faith is. 

We teach him that faith is believing something even though you can’t see it.  We have faith in God even though we don’t see him.  But, he has taught me that believing in God really isn’t about faith.  Believing the Bible and his words are what require faith.

You might ask how believing in God doesn’t require faith when you clearly can’t see him.  Through my child’s eyes, I’ve learned that once you have a relationship with God, not only do you see him, but you feel him; you hear him; you absolutely, positively, without a doubt know that God exists. 

If that last sentence doesn’t make sense to you, then it may be that you haven’t truly encountered God in this way.  I remember that I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 9 years old.  I knew that Jesus died for my sins, and I knew that his blood was there to wipe away all my imperfections and mistakes.  I knew that because I decided to accept the gift he had given by sacrificing his life, I would go to Heaven when I died.  I knew that.  The fact that I knew that came from having faith that what the bible said was true.

BUT, that’s all it was – faith.  Don’t get me wrong, we should have faith in him, but something happened when I was in my early 20s.  I encountered God.  I realized that I could form a relationship with him.  He was no longer words in a Bible.  He was (is) beside me at all times, and I know without a doubt that he is.  I feel his love for me.  It’s something that I can’t explain at all, but you understand it if you’ve met him the way I have.

I pray that you have met him, and I pray that if you haven’t met him like this, you talk to me or anyone you know that can help you learn more about how this happens.  God is so much more than words in a book that you read on Sundays.  He loves you more than you could ever even comprehend because you (as well as any of us) don’t have the capacity to love like he does.

If everything I’m saying is completely foreign to you, you might get a somewhat clearer picture if you read yesterday’s piece of A Princess Broken.  It explains what I mean about erasing your imperfections and mistakes and what it means to ask Jesus into your heart.

Back to Childlike Faith

I fully intended for this post to go in a different direction, but I veered a little.  I hope you don’t mind.

Going back to my son, he has faith like I’ve never seen before, and when I see it in action, I know that’s exactly what God was speaking about in Mark 10. 

We weren’t looking to move just yet, but we recently stumbled across a home that had exactly everything we ever wanted in a house.  We created a list more than 6 years ago of things our new house “had” to have.  This house fit that list perfectly down to the Jack and Jill bathrooms that would split our kids’ bedrooms.

We started preparing our current home for the market one weekend with the plans to get the ball rolling on the following Monday to make an offer on the other house and get ours up to sell quickly.  Monday came, and everything fell through, which was difficult to discover.  I had quickly said that God has something better for us, but I was still disappointed.

Two weeks passed, and our family was going around the table telling our one thing we were thankful for that day, and my 6 year old showed me, yet again, what childlike faith was.

What was he grateful for that day—2 weeks after everything fell through?  He was thankful that we didn’t get that house that even he had fallen in love with.  Why?  In his own words, “because God has an even better house for us,” and that thought got him excited!

My 6 year old opened my eyes so much with that statement.  I had said that very thing once after we found out we weren’t getting the house, but I didn’t honestly feel it.  I was saying it because, yes, I knew it was true, but I still wanted this other house.  He said it because he believes it 100%, and he’s thankful he didn’t get what he wanted.  This house was something even he had been praying for.  He knows that God said “no” to his request because there’s something even better he has in mind for us.

Wow!  What if we all walked around with a faith like that?  Instead of asking, “Why didn’t God answer my prayer?” or “Why did I not get that job I really wanted?” or “I loved him.  Why did we break up?”. . .  Why not say, “Thank you so much, God, for knowing me better than I know myself.  Thank you for protecting me from heartache.  Thank you for not allowing me to miss out on something even better than what I thought was the best for me.  Thank you for loving me enough to bless me with something I don’t deserve.  Thank you for not allowing me to settle for less than the best”? 

Take time out today and think about the most recent disappointment you’ve been faced with.  It may sound strange, but spend some time in gratitude thanking God for having a bigger perspective than you and for wanting to bless you with something even better.

Related articles

• Childlike Faith (thehappyhousewife.com)