Children and Faith
What a beautiful picture we see in Isaiah 11:1-10. It has traditionally been suggested that it’s a picture of our future somewhere way into the distance. Even now, we still cannot imagine a wolf not eating a lamb if it was sitting right next to it, or a lion eating straw like an ox, this would need a complete change of their genetic makeup. What of a child playing near a snake’s nest, most adults would not be happy to see such a thing and most mothers would be horrified to see their children anywhere near snakes of any sort let alone the deadly variety mentioned here.
It is a picture of peace, love and safety. The vision includes animals that are normally prey sitting down unafraid with their archrivals. What I do see here, in this passage, is a wonderful picture of faith in action. These creatures are showing complete faith in their Heavenly father to keep them safe.
Many years ago my daughter had some very difficult health issues. Eventually she was scheduled for an operation and left in the early hours of the morning to get to the hospital, leaving me to look after her toddler who was still asleep when they left. As I waited for her to wake up I went through all the possible conversations that might eventuate when she discovered that her parents were not there. I even wondered whether I was going to be able to calm her down if she was really upset.
As I heard her footsteps in the hall, I turned around and braced myself for the tears that I expected to flow. What actually happened was, with a clear, cheerful voice, she said: “Mummies has gone to the doctor and the doctor is going to make her all better”. This clear statement of faith from a less than 2-year-old child was stunning. She was not interested in the what-if’s - this doctor was just going to do what she had been told he had promised. Children don’t do what-if’s to start with.
They arrive into this world and they look at their parents with complete love and faith. They trust you, as their parents, with their lives, future and well-being. The what-if’s develop as children are let down by those adults and things in their lives. A toy that breaks after its been bashed around too much, the doll that falls apart after the tug-of-war has happened with the brother. They prove that toys are not indestructible. The father who breaks his promise or mother who is just too busy to do what we want when we want it to happen proves that people are sometimes unreliable. This is when we start thinking about the what-if’s in life. What if it was my fault, what if I break my special toy. By the time we become adults we are often so caught up in the what-if’s that we can lose faith in anyone and anything. Yet, God our heavenly father/parent is never too busy and will always have our best interests in mind when He leads us.
When I read this passage I have always pictured lush green grass, shady trees and full rivers. Yet, as I thought about this again recently I had to wonder if my perspective was wrong. Maybe it would not necessarily have to be a lush environment in which this passage could be found to be true. Just, maybe it could happen in the drier savannah or drought areas. This new perspective made me realise that the faith that I see here is not a faith that depends on a change in circumstances but a faith that is active in the surroundings that already exists. If this picture is dependent on the lush pastures and full streams of water then it is telling us that faith works only when our circumstances or environment changes. If this can happen in the dry and drought affected areas then it means that faith can be exercised in the current circumstances, in the tough times that we all experience here and now.
God is faithful and yes we struggle to understand and trust Him simply because we have been hurt and let down by the humans around us. It is hard for us to look at God our Father with eyes of trust and love that our children look at us with. He wants us to have that sort of faith in Him. That sort of faith that we can see in this passage. He wants us to not be afraid of the things that look like they are going to destroy us but to sit beside them and rest in Him. No we are not to pretend that they don’t exist but we are to trust God to deal with them. He doesn’t want us to wait until things get better, He wants us to trust Him now!
The first part of this passage tells us how He will deal with all the things in our lives. First, He will treat people equally and justly. Unlike the way the humans treat each other God will always deal with an understanding that comes from knowing all our thoughts, motivations, pain and everything about us that other humans will never know. This should reassure us that no matter how things look to us, God has it in control and it will be dealt with in the proper manner. I was looking back over the last few years with one of my children recently and as we discussed where God had brought them I could really see that God knew what was best for them.
Just like children don’t understand the plans and adult issues that will control the way we live our lives, such as moving from place to place for work, so we cannot completely understand the greater plan that God has, not only for us but for the whole of humanity. Yet He asks us to trust Him and to follow Him to all the places that He will direct us to. Just like our children who have learnt to trust us will come with us even if it is in a bit of a grumpy mood. So we need to learn to trust God who is the perfect parent.
There is no greater joy for God than for us to love and trust Him in such a manner. To me this is one of the reason why Jesus was so disappointed in the disciples when they turned the children away. He wanted them to understand the value of a childlike outlook on life. It was a good reminder that we can always learn from all the children in the world. After all they are the ones who are the first to see the good things in other children rather than the colour of their skin. They are often the first ones to stick up for someone being unfairly treated and they often are moved more profoundly by the injustices they see around them. If we look at the children around us, we will see many of the things that God wants us to learn and understand about Him.
As parents, we are upset when we see our children in pain, hurting or distressed. It is even harder when these things are inflicted on them by adults or circumstances beyond their control. God is also upset when we are hurting and in distress and yet often our pain is a result of our lack of faith in Him and that hurts Him even more.
So today, as we grapple with many problems we have to be deal with may we exercise faith in our Heavenly father without waiting for our circumstances to change. Let us remember that God loves us. Pray that those that we have concerns for will be able to love and trust God with that childlike faith that is seen in children because we are the children of God.