When I was a child, upon hearing about Jesus, I never doubted either if He existed, or could hear me. Ah, the faith of a child.
But as time went on, often doubts arose, and the pressures of life tended to overshadow and even obliterate this child-like trust in an all-powerful, all-seeing, ever-present, wonderfully gracious Person. Sound familiar? So what do we do about that?
In John 15, Jesus is very specific about how intimate His connection with His people is and should be. “I am the Vine, you are the branches.” In these words, and His explanations which follow, is the soothing balm to comfort fears and dispel doubts. If we but believe Him.
And there’s the rub of course. Do we believe Him? Well, what has gotten in the way? As we said, the pressures of life, but Jesus Himself warned about that in His parable of the sower. The cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches both can and will choke off an otherwise healthy faith. Matthew 13:22
So coming full circle we see that the problem is our doing things that little children just never do: worry or work. They don’t worry, because others protect them, and they don’t work because others provide for them. Theirs is a world full of wonder because it is a world based upon trust. They don’t attempt to control the world: they have neither the ability nor the inclination to do so because they have no need to do so. And that is what we should emulate.
You will say, “But that trust often is misplaced, and the child ends up trusting the wrong person.” And that is correct. But the analogy holds. For if we trust Jesus, we will never be in that predicament! He invites us to roll our cares upon Him, and live as the flowers and sparrows do (Matthew 6:25-34), free from concern because they are so well provisioned and their needs are simple and few.
Yes, He is real. As real as your breathing, and just as close. Relax, child, and exhale.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive
the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Mark 10:15