S187P4 – A good start: childlike faith

Mt. 18:2-5

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”

In my humble opinion, doctor Morrisey was the best physician ever.  He was our family doctor when I was very small, but I do not think that he ever treated me.  What I remember is going to his office when my family members needed to see him, but he always made sure to pay attention to me as well.  He used to hold one hand in front of me with his thumb up like a trigger and his index finger forward like a barrel.  His thumb would bend down, and I would hear this loud crack.  Part of me could not believe that his hand was making that noise, but a greater part of me believed he indeed had special skills.  I trusted in doctor Morrisey, and if he said he could do that, I believed that he could.

It took years for me to learn that doctor Morrisey used to hold a clipboard behind his back and snap the clip to make the noise that I heard so many times.  I never thought much about it when I was a child because I simply believed in that man.  God will present to us amazing and incredible things that are truly beyond belief.  When we speak of such things, others will think we are delusional or naïve.  We might even try to convince ourselves that what we have seen or heard is not actually true because it is so unbelievable.  Although we are to exercise discernment through his Holy Spirit to test our experiences and make sure that they are genuine, we also are to believe him as children who trust their Father not to deceive them.

When we know that God has spoken a word, we are to have complete faith in that word.  Sometimes we question whether He is the one who has spoken, and that is something we can and should do.  We must make sure that the voice we hear is his if we think it is.  However, once we know that, He requires that we have unqualified faith in those words.  It is the same for the miracles we see him perform through us or around us.  This childlike humility of which Christ speaks is the humility to unconditionally believe in the Father as the One who knows best and knows all.  Father, give us the childlike faith to believe what You do and say simply because of who You are.