Christian Living

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I admit that I'm a practical joker...sometimes to a fault. I remember one particular joke I played on my eldest daughter Jackie who is now 30. At the time of the joke she must have been about 3-4 years old. As we were driving past a steam plant she eyed the tall exhaust vent with steam coming out of it. With a childlike fascination she asked me, "Daddy, what do they make there"? Without missing a beat I gave her the most honest answer I could at the time. I said. "Oh, that's where they make clouds". ;)

She quietly accepted my answer and went on to the next 10,000 questions as most 4 year olds do. Fast forward a few years into the future. As Jackie and her classmates are watching a film in class a familiar image appears. That of a steam plant. Jackie, with loads of enthusiasm blurts out, that’s where they make clouds! As I picked up my humiliated daughter from school that day, I knew I had some apologies to make.

The point I’m making in this story is that I, as Jackie’s father had her complete trust. She soaked up every word I said with a childlike innocence that all kids have. Have you ever noticed that children are drawn to one another? They share a mutual bond of trust and camaraderie with one another. If you place 5 kids together, within 5 minutes they are all best friends playing and having the best of times. But place 5 adults in a room together and they will go all day without speaking to one another.

Unfortunately, I along with many other people and situations throughout the years assisted in eroding that childlike trust Jackie had and turned her into a hard, disbelieving adult.

It’s a process we all go through because of our environment. We start out in life with the attitude of believing that the world and the people around us have our best interest at heart and would never lie to us or hurt us. With time and through circumstances and situations, we are shown that our outlook on life isn’t true and we become hard and withdraw our trust.

Then at some point we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. At that point, like Salmon swimming upstream, we fight to discount what we see, what we hear, and what every other sense is telling us about our surroundings and attempt to place our trust in our God whom our senses cannot contact. We must forget about the people in our past who have lied to us and disappointed us and somehow return to that childlike state, displaying a childlike trust in God, beleiving that our heavenly Father won’t lie to us or hurt us in any way.

For some, the pains and disappointments that this life has dished out are too much to let go of and we struggle with placing our full trust in God. But fortunately, God left us His Holy Spirit which will lead us into all truth, John 16:13.

So if you’re at a place in your life right now where you’re having a hard time returning to the place of having childlike trust in God, I encourage you to go beyond your fears and boundaries and trust your heavenly Father. Be led by His Spirit and listen intently to the still small voice within you and He will never let you down. As He said in His Word, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5-6

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