Recently at church, our pastor talked about scripture directly from the bible that pointed toward being more like children and having child like faith to know God better. He took a deep dive into some of the reasons why this is key for growing relationship, staying open and receptive as well staying dependent on our faith and not letting the worldly wisdom trump our vision.
I will write some of the things that stood out to me:
A child is curious. Just take a look at child’s eyes. Those things are WIDE OPEN. Fresh wonder and joy in those pure eyes. They’re looking at everything for the first time. They are receptive and absorb what they intake through their eyes. They approach all things with absolute fascination and interest. One who stays curious is growing their relationship with God will be reminded in prayer and reading scripture to take those words as fresh. To really absorb those words and breath slowly through them as our heart speaks. Reading God’s word and being willing to to ask questions when there is something we don’t understand. Keeping that curious open posture so we can heal, learn, and grow further in our relationship with God. God doesn’t just want us to do this with him, but also in the way we steward our relationships with others. Are we remaining curious and open and genuinely investing into other humans around us. Stepping out of our shoes more. Making it about others.
This flows right into the next thing that a child does: a child embraces relationship. A child is open handed reaching quite literally to their mom and dad. ready to be present. ready to engage. eye contact. head up. fully investing into what is in front of them. How do we embrace relationship with God? He wants us to grow in our faith in many different ways. Asking him for help. Speaking on gratitude and the blessings right in front of us. serving and helping others. connecting in community and helping teach others about God. the list goes on. Children embrace relationship with no hesitation. How are you engaging with God’s creation and embracing relationships? texts. phone calls. making plans with friends. thinking of others and checking in on them. being present in public and genuinely investing into others lives. keeping the spot light on them. not making it about ourselves and letting insecurities pop in when someone starts speaking. being like a children. embrace relationship. putting effort toward our relationships even when someone doesn’t initiate by calling or texting first. being the lead the embracing relationship by not holding resentment. acknowledging and speaking our mind. knowing how to say sorry. God wants us to be honest and embrace relationship with him. He is open hearted and open handed and present with us at all times. practice our relationship with God just as we do with his people. Embrace him and embrace his creation. engage. interact. face to face. loving others.
Another awesome point our pastor brought up was that children have an instinct to trust. As we get older and we let the world kick in, we are hesitant to trust. maybe for good reason, but how strong are the guards up that we hold? How do we learn to trust God more and have that sense of dependency on him that is spoken about in the bible? The question is for each of us to answer. Are we listening to God? when we read the bible, say our prayers, and really ask God for advise, are we going to be open and receptive when we starts to open up doors in our life. when new people come along, new opportunities, and more chances for God to push us in a certain direction. Are we going to trust our prayers and communication with him enough to realize when those blessings arise? or are we going to put up a cold shoulder and not embrace the opportunities and stay isolated, quiet and distant? Trusting God is tough thing to do at times. But it’s necessary. How come you’ve heard the phrase: A relationship doesn’t exist without trust. Think about this in terms with God. You read the bible and are working on becoming a better man or woman. Working on seeing God more clearly and learning more about who he is. What happens when we read things that spark up internal conflict .Those feelings like “ehhhh, this seems do-able, but idk about ________.” Maybe those things pulling on you heart are the things that are hard to trust God with.
I heard this: praying big is praying for someone supernatural to occur. something out of your hands. Trusting God that much that you need help from him to make a supernatural miracle happen. this is fully trusting in God. Are we taking things into our own hands or our own agendas?
Trusting is one of those things that a child does out of instinct. We have to set aside the hurt, the pain and distrust that the world has shown us, and remember that God calls us to rewind. To come back to loving, trusting, and having a posture that a child has toward relationship with him and his people. We have to make that defined separation between worldly and heavenly. Before all of the politics, the lessons people a,b,c taught you, before the lesson you learned in a hurtful intimate relationship, and even before the lessons you learned with your own mom or dad.
What does scripture say? what does the world say? 2 different paths here.
Trusting in God like a child is knowing his world, leaning whole heartedly into prayer and bringing it all to the table in a vulnerable way. So we can know the father deeper. So he can bless opportunities in our life. So he can open doors that we didn’t know existed.
for me, vulnerable, open hearted, curious and clear communication with God looks something like this: “God i don’t have all the answers here. thank you for allowing me to stay in your word daily and reenforce what it means to be more like your son jesus christ. i will fall short along the journey. but please give me strength to bring those doubts, mistakes, and challenges to you. to acknowledge them. to stay open and in relationship with you so i can move forward better. being an ambassador to christ and spreading a good message. i trust that you’re working on my heart and helping me embrace relationship and treat others the way i want to be treated. I trust that you give me this renewed lens of joy each day so i can make small to larger impacts on your people. you’ve given the power to adapt and be consistent. You’ve been with me through the 19 different times ive moved homes. and you’ve also been my strength to keep my family relationships strong and my gym routine consistently on point so i can uphold self respect along the way. Please continue to allow me to step out of my own shoes and make the impacts on this world that you’ve uniquely paved a path for me to walk. Please bring strength and peace to the ones who can’t see you just yet. the ones working hard and trying to do the right thing when no one is watching. the ones feeling alone and struggling to hold it together while they’re exhausted and taking care of others. You are a loving God. despite what I’ve witnessed through earthly fathers. you teach me the defining difference of what a heavenly father is. You are unconditional and consistent. You empower me to be a warrior at heart. to handle things even when i don’t think i can. Thank you for the leading nature you fill me with so i can continue to grow as a man. all glory to you. Amen”
THE_HUMAN_EXPERIMENT1993 