Childlike innocence

Mark 10:15: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Yesterday I received the above picture in an email from my wife and it triggered a thought in me: how often do we, like the little girl in the picture, go to God with the innocence of a child? How often do we allow ourselves to truly let our guard down and approach Him as He truly is - our Father.

In my case I know, even during this season I am going through, I sometimes struggle to come before God with a truly open, innocent, heart. I hold back, I say verbally what I think He wants me to say and I find myself repeating things because I don't know what else to say. But I have yet to master that one thing a child has that I seem to lack: the ability to sit quietly in my Father's lap and listen to His voice.

I remember when my sister was a baby and we would be visiting my grandparents. When she was tired of playing or running around or just needed some downtime, she would grab her blanket (her "bap") and crawl into my Grandpa's lap for - what he called - her recharge. That's an image that sticks in my head - my Grandpa on a chair cuddling my little sister, her sucking her thumb while holding tight to her little blanket. Sometimes sleeping, sometimes awake, but always reveling in the warmth, the comfort and the protection of being held by Grandpa.

Isn't it time we did just that? How often do we truly clamor onto our Father's lap and enjoy the comfort, the protection and the wisdom that comes from being still like a child? 

Psalm 46:10 reminds us to "Be still and know that I am God". But do we really do it? I know I sure don't -- I know that I seldom go to God with a listening ear. I'm more the chatty type and while I know He loves when I speak to Him, I'm pretty sure that sometimes He wants to get in a word or two himself. I've found during this season that some of the times God has spoken the loudest to me have been when I have been sleeping or on my way to bed -- how similar is that to our earthly Father and Mother? We, as children, tucked safe into our bed, quiet after a heavy day, and with an open heart, quiet mouth and listening ears sit as our parents tell us a story or pray with us before we go to sleep. I think, sometimes, God does just the same thing. Sits with us on the edge of the bed and gives us His thoughts, His guidance and His love as we are lulled to sleep.  It's our time to rest but His time to talk.

God wants us to be as innocent as children when we come to Him -- because innocence is at the heart of faith. When we go to our Father with hearts that are truly open to Him, we will truly receive Him. Children may question their mom or dad, but they ultimately will obey because they know that Mom and Dad always know what's best. How often do we do that? Do we accept the direction, the plan and the guidance God gives to us? Or do we opt to pout for a time and then decide to go our own way? I think we do both to some degree. It's probably something that we never completely grow out of -- afterall, we are always children in the eyes of an ageless God.  And children are alot of things - loving, full of joy and innocence... but they can also be willful.  Oh, how they can be willful.  I'm sure that God knows that better than any of us do -- even the parents.

I think that picture reminds me of a need to come back to God as a child would -- inquiring, obedient, innocent and believing in a God that can do ANYTHING! Isn't that what we think when we're little? That our Mom or Dad can move mountains? Well, our Heavenly Father REALLY can! How's that for amazing!  As adults we allow ourselves to become jaded and to forget that as much as we delight in the wide eyes of a child on Christmas morning or the amazement of a child when they see something that truly makes them smile, so too does God delight in every sigh, every smile, every giggle and every moment of joy in our life.  And when we fall down and hurt ourselves, He cries with us and then lifts us up, dusts us off and urges us to go on... just like we would do for our own kids.  There is something necessary about having the faith of a child in our faith with God - it allows us to go deeper because we aren't burdening ourselves with the cynicism of an imperfect world.

I am reminded of that old song from Sunday School:

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

Isn't it time we embraced that pure love completely and totally by going to our Father with the trust and faith of children?  We may find that alot of things will be revealed to us when we approach him like that little girl and her dolls kneeling by the side of her bed:

Luke 10:21: At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.