Usually when I hear “Faith of a Child,” I think of perfect trust.
But what happens when the young child starts to ask those really hard questions?
After prayers the other night, my 6 year old started questioning why we pray or even love God. He wanted to know how he could talk with God when he couldn’t even hear God. I mean, it can feel like a one-sided conversation at times…
I have a very logical child. No amount of attempting to explain how God speaks to our hearts could satisfy his question. So his conclusion was that he must not love God since he couldn’t hear God.
As a mother who wants her child to have a strong relationship with Jesus, this conclusion was crushing.
Then I talked with my brother… my younger, stubborn determined brother, who has a very similar personality to my son. He gave me a surprisingly insightful way to help me help my son grow in his relationship with Jesus.
His advice was to not push communication with or love of God right now. But to explain to my son that God wants him to learn about Him and learn his prayers. That God knows it’s hard for people to listen a lot of the time, so He commissioned a book to be written (the Bible) in order to help us hear and understand Him. He also gave us a set of rules to follow to help us on our Christian path (A few days later, my son told me that his favorite book at “our old house” that’s packed away was one about the 10 Commandments…). Then, when my son is a little older, he may start to understand what it means to hear and have a relationship with God.
What a beautiful perspective!
Isn’t this also what we all need to remember? We must continually seek to know God in order to love Him better. Many of us know that daily prayer is an important way to do that, but it’s easy to forget that there are so many other resources out there to help us learn more about God. First, there’s the Bible – but we also have the writings and lives of the saints, along with other devotional type books to help us along our way. Then we also have Mary and the saints who can intercede for us to grow closer to God.
It’s so easy to forget, but I keep having to remind myself that this whole life thing is a journey – one which is supposed to lead us closer to God. All that matters is that we make it to Heaven and help others get to Heaven. God wants to fill his house with friends – those who love Him.
Would you want to invite people, who have spent all their life hating you, to come to live with you permanently?
♥ Nicole
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