I must have good ears. What I mean is I’m apparently a good listener. For many years (especially this past year), I can’t count how many have shared their fears, concerns, or any number of reasons why they are miserable and can’t even sleep. I always ask where their concerns stem from. That’s when the door opens to reveal a mountain of angst.
People express their fears of war among nations, an ever-increasing threat of nuclear war, bad economy and lack of spending power, invasion, national security, division in our country, protests spreading across the nation, the breakdown of families, the doom and gloom of news … you name a problem and someone has shared their concern with me. It’s a wonder I’m not losing sleep.
I ask each person if I can share my thoughts with them, to which the answer is “Absolutely!” I then suggest that they fill their mind with positive messages. Then I start sharing my child-like faith.
My faith grew as I sang hymns in church. I’ve been in church choir since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I learned Jesus Loves Me, and What a Friend I Have in Jesus early on. Then I graduated to Sweet Hour of Prayer and In the Garden as I began to rely more heavily on Jesus. Of course, my faith wouldn’t be complete without Trust and Obey and Just As I Am because I know that no matter how bad the world seems, My Lord is in control.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t sing the actual hymns to people, but the message from each of the hymns I know serves as the basis of a message I think people need to hear — one of hope. God wants us to trust Him even when the inexplicable happens.
So why am I talking about childlilke faith? I believe faith this simple can cure a lot of what’s wrong in the world, why so many worry, and why so many lose sleep. When the disciples asked Jesus who would be greatest in heaven, he told them that only someone with childlike faith could enter heaven (Matthew 18:1). What does child-like faith look like?
Childlike faith is simple. The older we get, the more we tend to complicate things. Things are more simple for children, and that is a beautiful characteristic when it comes to faith.
Childlike faith is un-selfconscious. Our insecurity grows as we age. We speak, act, post, move – all while looking behind us to see how people are responding. But with children, they just DO. They aren’t worried about what other people think. We would do well to learn from that unself-consciousness when it comes to faith.
Childlike faith is joyful. As adults, quite often our faith is exercised with a sense of drudgery. Perhaps it’s because we have accumulated a lifetime of disappointments and hurt feelings, of betrayals and pain. But the faith of a child is marked by a joyful kind of expectation. Children ask for something and then wait in excitement to see the response. As adults, we all too often make requests and then wait for the other shoe to drop.
“[Christ] wants a child’s heart, but a grown-up’s head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim.” — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries of Pittsburg, TX. She has been a contributor to Bound for Life and written numerous articles published in LifeNews, Christian Post and the Baptist Standard, and is the author of Go Tell It! Debby can be contacted at caryjohnefurdministries@gmail.com.
Tagged: fear and worry, hymns and music, Jesus
