Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Someone said to me the other day that his wife had a child-like faith in the Lord and he himself was much more analytical. This gave me pause. Do I have a child-like faith or am I always thinking and analyzing all that the Lord does for me? It reminded me of when Jesus told his disciples to “let the children come” when they were trying to keep them from him. Children have such amazing faith and trust before they grow and become adults who are pulled in so many directions and have been through so much in life that they become distracted and torn from that child-like quality of complete and utter faith, trust, and dependence in the Lord. As adults we often lose these qualities, thinking we can do it better. He wants us to be fully dependent on him and to trust him and have faith in him in the way that a child has for their parent.

With too much analyzing and over-thinking and depending upon ourselves we can easily create a snare that will stop us, or at the very least slow us down, from all that God has planned for us. God has a path for us and shows us the way to keep our feet moving forward and not veering left or right as we so often choose to do with our over-thinking. Then we feel stuck and trapped and must once again cry out to him for Mercy and help to get us back on the path he had us on all along.

If we were to simply delight in the Lord and all he has for us, simply follow him with that child-like faith and trust he loves so much, how much less difficult would life seem as we moved ever closer to him and to our final reward?

Lord, give me a child-like faith and trust that draws me ever closer to you!

Psalm 55:7-8

I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.

Many have been the times I chose the desert over the cover of the Lord and closeness of those He placed in my life to uplift and encourage and love me. Why is it that we often choose to run into the desert, into what is truly the unknown, rather than into the safety of His arms? Of course fear is one factor. As broken humans we have fears, both understood and mysterious, that take hold of our thoughts and grow into a giant roadblock that we cannot seem to get around, so we turn back and run to what we think is the safety of the desert, the safety of isolating from others, from pain and fear.

In reality we are simply setting ourselves up for more pain and suffering because while we sit in our desert the roadblock we were afraid to go around, or over, or through, becomes ever-increasing in size as we imagine even worse things that are added to that blockade. Had we turned to God and to those He provided for us to help us get around that blockade, we would have seen the truth of what it was and gained more strength for the next one that will come our way. The more we face the fears of life and turn to God and to our brothers and sisters for help, the more strength we gain along this journey we are on.

While the fears and roadblocks will never disappear, we gain strength and wisdom and understanding as we face each one and learn how the Lord wants us to deal with it and move on in the direction He has set before us.

Father I pray for the strength only You can provide to help me face my fears and stay out of the desert of isolation and pain.