In the church my family visited a few weeks ago the pastor was sharing about the family. He expressed the true point that God uses the family as a way to help us understand more about the mysterious connection between Him and us. For the child, perhaps the main lesson to learn is that there is a Father who loves us, Who has hopes and dreams for us. Another lesson is that life is full of rules, some physical and others relational–break them at your peril. A third lesson would be then that the best path for a life of success is to understand proper submission to authority.
A fourth point, though, that the pastor didn’t touch on was the need to maintain a childlike approach to God. As Jesus describes it, (Matthew 18), ” ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’” This verse often gets shortened to the phrase of “faith like a child.” Technically, that phrase is not in the Bible, but the idea does fit into Jesus’ concept.
So, the pastor could have spoken about how a child, certainly a young one, has a solid idea of trust, of belief. It it why they can easily ask for a parent to purchase something for them. They aren’t afraid to ask why or “how come.” This idea of a simple trust must be core for a Christian, and often becomes very challenging for adults. The reason why is simple to grasp, especially if you are older than your teens—you’ve seen too many hardships, too many times when life didn’t go your way or when you’ve been let down.
Thomas Merton addresses this issue well.
Without courage we can never attain to true simplicity. Cowardice keeps us “double minded”–hesitating between the world and God. In this hesitation, there is no true faith–faith remains an option. We are never certain, because we never quite give in to the authority of an invisible God. This hesitation is the death of hope. We never let go of those visible supports which, we well know, must one day surely fail us. And this hesitation makes true prayer impossible–it never quite dares to ask for anything, or if it asks, it is so uncertain of being heard that in the very act of asking, it surreptitiously seeks by human prudence to construct a make-shift answer (cf James 1:5-8). What is the use of praying if at the very moment of prayer, we have so little confidence in God that we are busy planning our own kind of answer to our prayer?
Letting your life rest in God’s hands is often hard to do. As Merton notes, for many, we make our own plans. In this moment, we have made faith an option
I know well the challenge of letting God have control. Of choosing resolutely to step clearly into God’s world, and letting your own plans drop behind you. It takes tremendous courage. But you can do it as I have. It is the path of true wisdom, the way to real success. Sure, like a little child, you may find out that your parent doesn’t buy you that thing or can’t magically make your dream come true. But a loving parent, and God certainly is that, has your best in mind and will walk beside you through the challenge. And in that moment, we walk in courageous steps to give in to the Father’s authority.
That is a life lived well.