Stepping Stones: Do You Have Childlike Trust?

Transformational Thought

When my girls were really small, I used to throw them way up in the air. Oh, how they loved it. They got really excited when we were in a house with a 2-story entrance so I could throw them really high. I delighted in the trust they unquestioningly had in me, even though I really didn’t have to do much other than be a decent father. I certainly wasn’t perfect. Our kids show us their unconditional trust, and at times, extreme gullibility, in many ways…running to our room when they have a nightmare, believing when we tell them about Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, or thinking we can make all their boo-boos magically go away.

God created us to trust easily, so we would trust Him, just like a child trusts their parents. HE knows trust and faith are two essential components of our walk with Him. But Satan realizes this and has devised a system to lead us away from God by taking advantage of our desire to trust.

Satan gets in our head, he magnifies both the natural inadequacies that we have as parents as well as the times we really do let our kids down, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Due to these hurts we experience as kids, we become jaded and cautious about trusting others. Trusting anything other than ourselves becomes hard for us, even under normal circumstances, let alone more potentially hurtful situations.

But you see, mistrust breeds loneliness, isolation, and a feeling that no one truly understands me and my path. I feel no one else is on my team, then self-reliance becomes my main coping strategy. Self-reliance is the opposite of what God wants in His relationship with us. The Holy Spirit within us can be our resident tutor, helping us untwist those past hurts so we can start to trust again. I’m talking about real 100% unconditional trust and wide-eyed belief, just like a small child, ready to trust all God’s promises and instructions and fall into His open arms.

Today, when no one else seems to understand you, simply draw closer to Your Lord and God. Rejoice in Him, the One who understands you and loves you perfectly. Trust His promises and instruction for living life. Apply His principles to a trouble area today and continue to apply it regularly to that area. Give the principle a chance to affect your life and don’t judge the results to prematurely. You’ve given your plan time to implode, give His plan time to succeed. Your decision, choose well.

Prayer
Dear Father God, I come to You for understanding because You know me far better than I know myself. I know, Father, that You comprehend me in all my complexity…no detail of my life is hidden from You. Help me understand my hurts more, forgive those who hurt me, and learn to trust You and Your promises. Give me the trust of a child when it comes to all that has to do with You. I pray in the name of the rock of my trust, Christ Jesus; and all God’s children say – AMEN!

The Truth
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Psalm 131:1,2

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5,6