Is it important to come to God like a child?

“…Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3; cf. Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17)

So, yes, it is not only important but also absolutely necessary to come to God like a child in order to have eternal life. This means we need to have a faith that is simple and uncomplicated. It is an uncluttered faith. It means that we don’t have it all figured out but we know we can take God at His word and trust His promise to adopt us into His family. But the lesson doesn’t end there. Jesus went on to say:

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (v. 4).

It seems that Jesus is at least implying how we should live in a complicated world. We not only get to God through a childlike faith, but we also continue throughout our lives following Him like a child. Daily life for a child is humble following. We need our Father to get us through another day. Pride strips trust. When we are following God like a child we are living in simple dependency on God’s Spirit. We are daily depending on Him. We are repeatedly asking God questions like, “What are you doing?” And we are telling Him that we want to follow Him like a child follows their parents in a busy, crowded mall on Black Friday. We are never losing sight of our heavenly Father. We are not wandering off because something shiny and noisy has caught our attention.

Let’s not lose that daily childlike trust in God. My desire is that we don’t become so “mature” in the sense that the awe and wonder of following God like a simple child wears off.

Grace & Peace,

Trust is a pretty fragile thing. If we trust in the wrong doctor we will suffer physically. If we trust in the wrong automobile maker we may end up on the side of the road. If we trust in the wrong builder the roof might leak. But, what if we trust in the wrong person, idea, thing, or program for eternal life? Or how about misplacing our trust after we’ve been saved? You know, we believe in Jesus to give us eternal life, but we don’t trust Him for everyday living.

It’s amazing how I have to fight this trust battle all the time. Does that sound like you? God has rescued us through Jesus’ death and we are secure; we know we’re going to heaven one day. But when the stock market plunges 400 points we panic and question whether we’ll ever be able to pay the bills – financial ruin. Or, when someone abandons us we freak out because we just don’t know how we’re going to make it through another day without him or her in our lives. Or, we mess up big time and beat ourselves up thinking God can’t make anything beautiful out of all the ugliness we’ve created. Think about what God said to Judah who was quickly drifting away from Him:

“…Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD” (Jeremiah 17:5 ESV).

He goes on to describe him in verse 6 like a puny shrub in an unoccupied, salty wasteland. Those who trust in man and manmade inventions for security will not thrive. In fact, God states very clearly that they “shall not see any good.” Ouch, right?

But, then God tells them,

“Blessed is the man who trust in the LORD…” (Jeremiah 17:7 ESV).

In this case He doesn’t describe them as a puny shrub but as a vibrant, leafy, green, fruit bearing tree that is flourishing even in a drought because it is by a body of water that will nourish its roots. This is a beautiful picture of a believer’s life whose trust is continually in the Lord and not in self or things or other people or whatever.

I’m not saying this is a life of guaranteed ease and rainbows and unicorns. That’s just delusional thinking. What I’m saying is that when we keep our eyes on God He will not disappoint even when things go dark and scary. He is the One who sustains us in the crashes of life when everything is upside down, or when others aren’t playing by the rules and seem to be having a blast and we’re not. Remember, looks can be deceiving. The life of continual trust in God is the life God chooses to bless and causes to flourish.

Grace & Peace,

As I was reflecting on Doris Sawyer’s life this weekend preparing for her funeral one word stuck in my heart and mind: peace. She was a woman who died in peace because she died in Christ. But her peace went beyond that – she lived in peace. Now that’s something I really want to know more about because it is something that people battle with day in a day out. I want us to know how to live in peace not just die in peace.

The first step is to accept the peace of God through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our rebellion. He paid for our peace. Paul wrote,

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace…” (Ephesians 2:13-14a).

Genuine, lasting peace comes only through a righted relationship with our Creator. Believing in Jesus for eternal peace is accepting His terms to bring us to that peace. Peace cannot be had apart from a relationship with Him.

Second, this peace sustains us through everyday turmoil. When things are upside down or life has thrown you a curve ball or you are frustrated with the social-political landscape this peace will get you through. Jesus told His disciples,

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

He said this in the context of the worst news possible – His impending death. Their leader, the one they would follow to the ends of the earth, that person who had been faithful to get them through each day was going to leave them. They felt abandoned and obviously their hearts were troubled (can you say, “Anxiety attack!”). Sound familiar? Yes it does. And when these anxious moments come we need to listen and practice the words of Jesus: trust me, I’ll get you through. Don’t trust in what the world is offering; that is only a temporary fix to the situation. Jesus’ peace offers permanence.

Does this even make sense? Yes it does. I’m not trying to offer some mantra we recite or give you a spiritual wheel to spin. This is not a ritual it is a reality.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7)

Trusting in Jesus’ peace is a choice we make. Just read verses 4-6 in Philippians 4 and you’ll get what Paul was trying to get across. And it may be a minute-by-minute reminder as we are going through difficulties. We may have to remind ourselves through sinking our teeth into Scripture and constant prayer that we enjoy His peace and His peace is greater that our turmoil.

Grace & Peace,

In the back of my journal I have a pocket, and in that pocket I collect all sorts of “things.” Most of those “things” are reminders. Among them is: “My Edification List” from Barb, a poem from Courtney, a foot rubbing coupon from Abby, an encouraging note from Ben, a Father’s Day card from Blake, a letter from my brother, two prayer request cards from men, and my Dad’s obituary.

I laid these reminders out on my desk today and read them. Each one was a gentle shove to keep honoring God and serving others. As I look at them my heart breaks for the times I’ve failed, but I am also encouraged. I am encouraged because I realize that I have these people (and many more) in front of me courageously following God and behind me faithfully supporting my efforts.

We all need these kind of built in reminders. We need things in our life that remind us of God’s faithfulness to us and of people’s love. The Israelites had these reminders. On certain momentous, God-is-faithful-and-came-through occasions they would stack rocks so they wouldn’t forget (Joshua 4:1-7). They would write down the stories of God’s faithfulness so that the coming generations would continue to trust God (Psalm 78). Even God had a “book of remembrance” (Malachi 3:16); how cool is that!

What reminders do you have? Let me encourage and challenge you to get some. Put these reminders in your life personally, and then put some in place for your family. It is so easy to lose faith when discouragement hits. We all need to know that God is faithful and that people are for us. We need to know that we aren’t going through life alone.

Grace & Peace,