Childlike Faith

Today I spent a portion of my drive listening to children's music on a Christian radio station.  It reminded me of the songs we sing at Royal Family Kids Camp.  In fact, one of the songs was one that we sung at Camp 2 years ago!  Sometimes there are some pretty cheesy songs thrown in; they are for kids after all.  But there are a lot of songs that do a lot for my faith.  They're songs about the simple, yet core concepts of the Christian  faith.

"Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong."

"Faith to see beyond what I can see.  Faith to know that You will do great things.  I will trust You, Lord; I'll always believe, as I hold on to my faith, Jesus, You are holding on to me."

"He knows my name.  He knows my every thought.  He sees each tear that falls and hears me when I call."

I heard one today that I couldn't find the lyrics to, but it had a line about imagining where we would go if we would follow where He leads.

These songs are so simple, yet so profound.  Yet so often we take the profound for granted because of the simplicity.  I think adults need to internalize these simple truths just as much as children do.  We need to hear them often.  They're comforting.  Some express joy and some express sorrow.  All express the truth that God is with us and for us.  There's a sense of awe towards God.  There's  a sense of childlike faith- a very simple trust in a good God who looks after us.  

The sad thing is, so many of us grow out of that childlike faith.  Those who weren't raised in the church may not even get the chance to experience it.  While our faith should definitely mature, there's a childlike faith that we are meant to hold onto.  Jesus spoke of it Himself.  These songs present the basics of our faith.  If we believe them and accept them with the childlike faith that God is good, He is with us, He is for us, etc., I think it would drastically change the way we live out our faith.  But what are the implications for our faith if we neglect these basic foundations of it?

One of the gifts I've received as a volunteer at RFKC is the gift of childlike faith.  Each year, it develops a little more, especially with the songs.  The kids at this camp are all in foster care, which means that they've all experienced some sort of trauma.  How can we ask kids to put their faith in words like these if we can't?  Does my life show that I believe these words?  Is my life changed because of that?  My prayer for all the kids at camp is that theirs would be.  And I pray that ours would be as well.  These aren't meant to be just songs.  They carry truths that should shape our view of God and the world- not just truths we confess, but truths that we live out.  RFKC pushes me to do my best to live those truths out before those kids for the week that I am with them.  To show them that God is all of the things the songs claim He is instead of just telling them.  Their lives are filled with crushed hopes. I want them to know that when they put their hope in Jesus Christ, they are putting their hope in something real.  In the one person who will never fail them.  And I want to do the same.  My faith becomes more tangible to me.  My faith matures as I learn to practice childlike faith.  But sometimes maturing in faith means growing into childlike faith instead of growing out of it.

One of the most beautiful things about camp is witnessing the faith of the children.  It's such a glimpse of Heaven!  There's just something about childlike faith that makes me yearn for it even more...