Friday, August 21, 2009

childlike faith

Bryan and I have been so encouraged and challenged lately by Ella's amazing faith in God and His goodness, faithfulness, and power. When she has aches or pains, she asks for prayer without reservation or fear that God may not show up to help. In particular, she had a small wart on her temple that she was somewhat embarrassed about and didn't like anyone to see. One night, as I was putting her to bed, she asked if I would pray for her that God would make the wart go away. So I did. We covered it with a band aid and as I tucked her in, she said, "We'll have to check on it in the morning to see if God made it disappear!" Sure enough, the next morning, we removed the band aid, and the darn thing fell right off! She was so thrilled! And I was amazed!

Even when she doesn't receive healing right away, her faith isn't dampened. She has a small cut near the top of her ear that has caused her some pain. I have prayed with her about it a handful of times. One day in particular, she approached me with lip quivering and eyes full of tears because the sore hurt and said, "Mommy, will you pray for me?" I am so proud of her that she doesn't stop believing, even though God didn't take the pain away the first, second or even third time we prayed.

At the dinner table a few nights ago, Ella looked up at me with a huge grin on her face and with a bit of a shy demeanor, and said, "Mommy...I'm a Christian." I was taken aback at first, not expecting her to even know the word so I asked her, "Ella, what does that word mean?" She replied, "It means I love Jesus." And I know she does.

What we find most challenging and inspiring about her faith is how pure it is. It's unhindered by disappointment or questions about whether God really is good. There is no question in her mind that He will take care of things and that He will act out of love toward her. I have found it personally convicting that when Bryan or I will complain of some ailment or weariness, we will search high and low for the ibuprofen or complain to one another, and she will offer to pray for us. We'll both look at each other perplexed, like, "Why didn't we think of that?!" It just proves to me that, even though I believe God to be good, accessible and willing to help, I still look to myself for the answer by default. I am blessed by her every day and love that I can learn so much from her, even as I try to impart as much wisdom as I can to her. It brings to life so many of Jesus' references to little children, how precious they are, how he treasures them and how we are to be more like a child as we relate to our heavenly Father.

Matthew 19:13–14 13Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

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