3 lessons my daughter has taught me about simple faith
Sharing our faith is easy, right? God has transformed our lives and we should want to share that with so many people! So, why is it so difficult? The truth is, we make sharing our faith so overwhelming that we just don’t do it. It doesn’t have to be so complicated though. If we simply shared our faith ‘like’ a child, I think we would be much more excited to do so.
I read a blog post from a friend of mine recently and I re-thought about how simple evangelism really is. It’s almost humorous. God simply wants us to be who we are and live out that faith. I don’t always do well in that category, but I know who does — my daughter.
Rae is three. She can be quite the handful at times, but it’s amazing what she learns and understands about God. Yes, sometimes it means she walks around the house wearing her blanket over her head and calling herself Jesus. But many other times she simply has child-like faith.
Here’s what I mean
1. Simply Pray
We read a short devotional and pray with Rae every night before she goes to sleep. Her attention span isn’t exactly stellar, but she usually gets the point.
Somewhere along the way though, she began to understand prayer and why we pray. Deidre (my wife) wasn’t feeling well one day, and Rae noticed. She put her little hand on Deidre and said, “Dear God, thank you for a wonderful day…help mommy feel better…mommy feel better.”
She saw a need and, in the moment, prayed a simple and short prayer. No embellishment, just simple faith. We need to simply pray, because God is looking for dependence, not performance.
2. Simply Live
A few days ago Deidre found a great idea online — heat up beach rocks and use crayons to color them. As the crayons melt, it covers the rock like paint. Rae had a blast! So much so, that during her night-time prayer, she added, “…and thank you for painting rocks.”
It got me thinking: She remembered that moment and thought it was important to include it in her prayer.
What was she trying to say? For one thing, I think it’s amazing that she was telling God what she did that day. Having a conversation with God — what a concept!
But more than that, I think she was simply expressing gratitude. We’re quick to run to God when we need help, but do we simply thank Him for life? We need to simply live in order to see what God is doing around us and through us.
3. Simply Share
I had to drop off something at a public building recently, and Rae was along for the ride! I wasn’t going to leave her in the car, so sleepy Rae ‘walked’ in with me (I carried her). By the time we arrived at the door, however, she was ready to go!
From the moment we entered the door to when we left, her mouth didn’t stop. She loves to talk, but this was different.
I started to ask for direction, but Rae, looking at the woman, interjected, “I have to tell you something!” We ignored her for a minute, but she wasn’t backing down, as she continued to interject.
After we paid attention to her little voice, God grabbed my heart. She said, “Jesus died…the soldiers took him away…but He came back to life!”
She repeated that several times and I had no choice but to explain to the person what she was saying. I wish I could say I made the most of the conversation, but I think I was trying to ignore the moment and just get home. Maybe you can relate.
That humbling moment was on my mind the whole way home. It was a missed opportunity, led by a child who simply wanted to share. We need to simply share what God has done when God inspires us to share it.
Final thought
I find, as we get older, we tend to complicate life. We can learn so much from children. Yes, they’re clearly learning and have a long way to go, but their simple view on life can help us so much! Let us simply pray, simply live, and simply share!
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