Little Children Are Believers

Little children are believers.  Their wide-eyed innocence allows them to see and believe things that are so hard for adults to accept.  SPOILER ALERT: If you are a believer in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, the next sentences might ruin your day!  Children will believe that a jolly fat man can deliver billions of presents in one night or that a magical fairy brings them money for their teeth.  Why don’t we believe these things as adults?  It is because as we grow in knowledge and maturity, we just know that such things are impossible.  Do we do the same thing with God?

Little children are believers.  They believe in God.  It isn’t until we reach our teen years and God is no longer “cool” that the first bits of doubt creep into our minds.  Something tragic will happen in our lives and we’ll start to doubt whether or not God exists.  We’ll question and we’ll wonder if any of it is true.  Is there anything wrong with doubting or questioning?  I don’t think that there is, as long as we’re willing to do the hard work of researching the answers for which we’re looking.  It’s one thing to doubt whether or not something is true and another thing entirely to search for the truth.

Little children are believers.  They’ll sit in Sunday School classes and hear stories of men being swallowed by fish and 5,000 people being fed with loaves and fishes and they’ll believe it.  Even if they’ve never seen it, they believe it.  Even though they haven’t seen God, they believe in Him.  Even though they’ve never met Jesus, they believe that He loves them.

And He does.

And He loves you, too.

Even when you question and doubt.

Especially when you question and doubt.

God is merciful to us when we doubt.  He gently and softly whispers, “I AM and I love you.”

Perhaps today is a day to set aside the questions and doubts for a few moments and with simple, childlike faith say, “I believe.”

Luke 18:15-17 (NIV)

15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”