Like a Child

Faith like a child.

Wonder like a child.

From the mouths of babes. Because seriously, no one says it like a child!

And the list goes on. There's so many connections to children. Things that we long for after we become adults. Even things that God calls us to have- faith like a child, for instance. But what does that mean? What is it about children that we need to emulate?

Faith. Children don't believe everything they're told. But once they do they believe it with their whole heart. Nothing's going to shake their faith.

Wonder. As adults we tend to get caught up with our problems or our stresses or whatever else and we don't really see the beauty and the wonder around us. Children do. They really see what they're looking at. The extraordinary in the ordinary. And it feels them with wonder. That's truly a gift from God.

Boldness. Children have an amazing ability to put the truth into simple terms. They say what they're thinking and although that's not always a good thing it's definitely a humorous thing! And often they'll simplify what we see as complicated. Instead of worrying about offending someone they speak the truth in simple, bold terms, in a way that we adults would never dream of doing.

And... the curiosity. Why is often my least favorite question when I'm around my nieces, nephews and other children. They have an amazing tendency to keep asking 'why' with insatiable curiosity. It often drive me crazy. But maybe that curiosity is what leads them to have the faith they do. They don't stop searching for answers.

Maybe, just maybe, we should do a lot more of asking why? And then take some time to stop and listen to the answers.

See children seem to ask why and then they just keep asking. I'm not even sure they hear the answers before the next 'why?' is out of their mouths. The benefit of maturity is that we (supposedly) have more patience. So when we ask God why we can't just keep asking, we need to listen to what He says.

Then we need to believe Him with that same faith of a child.

Maybe that childlike curiosity will lead to us having the faith of child so we can look at the world with the wonder of a child in order to speak to others with the boldness of a child.