Trust of a Child: Gaining Child-like Faith

 Luke 18:17 “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

One central aspect to being a child of God who enters into the Kingdom of God is trust; a trust that leads to a rest in your soul because you know your Father is working ALL out perfectly. Psalm 57:2, Hebrews 4:11 In a restful state there is no worry, angst, fear, anxiety, or any other emotion that takes you away from abiding in peace.

Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Growing up, I was blessed to never go hungry. Usually each night my mom prepared a balanced healthy dinner. I never wondered about dinner; if there would be any, how or where we would have it, how it was being cooked, or if it would be nutritious to help me to grow healthy and strong. I trusted in my parents to provide as they saw best and never gave it a second thought after all they were my parents. Matthew 6:8

Imagine if I trusted myself. After a day of playing, I would scour the neighborhood anxiously looking for a piece of bread. This lack of trust is what most do when it comes to God. They are like children scouring the neighborhood thinking God doesn’t care, He isn’t there, or they’re supposed to get their own dinner. It isn’t meant to be this way …

In ALL things we are to act in faith. Romans 14:23 This means trusting God and not ourselves, someone else, how we do something, or what we do. It means we trust God as the giver of all good things. James 1:17 We trust in His ability to work in and through us. We trust Him to provide in a faultless way because of His pure love. This type of trust is child-like faith. We don’t know how dinner will come, but we know we can trust God to provide it every time and it will be perfect because He IS our Father.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Peaceful, Honoring Prayer

This perspective is a fundamental aspect of prayer. In prayer, we give our situation over to God to work it out perfectly; Thy will be done. We let it go. We don’t judge how He is working it out. This honors God as God our Father. As God’s children, when we ask for His help we trust that He IS working it out. Sometimes it will be what we expected, more often times not. But we trust God will do what is flawless. Hindsight shows His perfection. God takes away a job, but puts us somewhere better. God removes us from a relationship, only to realize it was unhealthy. We experience the consequence of our sin, but we learn to walk in His wisdom, not our own. When we ask for His help, He gives us the fulfillment of our true desires, not what we think we need in our extremely limited understanding.

We think we know what is best and good; we don’t, only God does. Mark 10:18 We have to trust His goodness and not what we see because of how differently He might lead us in the fulfillment of our true desires. 1 Corin 2:5 If we trust Him, He will fulfill and exceed all we need in the perfect way and timing.

Psalm 34:10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

Let go of your expectations. Leave each step up to God. Trust He is working because He said He is to those who seek Him. Hebrews 13:21 Seek to walk according to His will and wisdom and not your own. James 1:1-8 This is the rest we are to have in every area of our lives.

In trust, we know whatever is happening God is in each detail bringing about what we need. Any one night, dinner may have come through my mom’s cooking, going out to eat, going to a friend’s house, or picking up dinner to bring home. I trusted them with the how and what. Do the same with God … leave the details up to Him. He loves you more than the perfect parent. Most don’t trust, so they go their own way to their detriment. God knows best. And when we trust, we are amenable to seek and follow His ways as He leads. If we expect our Mom’s meatloaf to be ready at 6PM, when it doesn’t come we’ll think she forgot about us. Meanwhile, she was waiting in the car to take us to our favorite restaurant. Leave it all to God. Follow where HE leads. He works outside of our understanding and for our best.

Want to trust God to this extent? Get to know Him. Spend time with Him one-on-one, each day seeking His face in spirit and truth. Most don’t trust because they don’t know truly know God or His love, get to know Him and you’ll know His love, then true trust will follow.