Childlike Faith

In the midst of the current coronavirus crisis in the world, I have been reflecting on what God is teaching me. Quarantined inside my home with my two young children I get new pop-ups across my phone, am on more zoom calls than ever before, and continue to watch the death rate climb. In contrast, I observe my children whose one desire is to play on the swing set in our backyard.  They have no concern for the things of the world that we are no longer able to do during this time: kids sports activities, frequent shopping outings, trips to the gym, and so on.  My children have no idea of the changes in the outside world, yet they do sense that something is wrong, and my son prays: “Dear God I pray that all the sick people in the world would be healed, and that heaven would be a lot better than it is down here.” 

His simple prayer reminded me of a time during Jesus’ earthly ministry, when some children were brought to Him so that He could lay hands on them and pray for them.  The disciples tried to turn the children away, but Jesus said, “ Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these ” (Matthew 19:13-14).  The children didn’t care what the Pharisees or the disciples thought, they just ran to Jesus – He was all they needed.  

In a world where we are searching for bigger and better “stuff”, and always on the go searching for the next best thing, all God desires from us is a child-like faith where we trust in Him completely and are thankful for what we have. He wants to be our Father, and the one “thing” we hope for, just as small children have the desire for the simple things in life, and the security of being home with mom and dad.   

During such times as today where we are stripped of much of the things we believe are important, we can be confident in the hope of salvation through His Son, the Savior of the World, as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans: “… because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴  perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:4-5)

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