Childlike Faith

Childlike Faith        

Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

—Luke 1:38

Lord, I want Your will. I will do what You want me to do. I will go where You want me to go. I will say what You want me to say.

Have you ever said that to God? Mary did.

When Gabriel suddenly appeared to her one day and announced that she would be the mother of the Messiah, she was completely obedient, saying, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

I love that Mary had childlike faith. Its amazing how open and trusting children are. If someone they trust tells them to jump and they promise to catch them, the child usually does not hesitate to jump. They have faith that the trusted person will not fail them.

But sometimes when God tells us to jump, we say, "What?" We think, I don't want to jump. What if God drops me? But He won't drop us. What kind of parent would do that? Our heavenly Father will catch us.

I personally struggle with trusting people. In a lot of cases I hesitate on counting on someone to actually do what they said they would do. It doesn’t come from being let down by others it comes from within. I have such a fear of letting people down and failing that it extends outward to not trusting people because they may let me down. With God’s help I am slowly progressing in being able to trust others, Him and myself. It’s amazing what He has been showing me. He has showed me that not trusting Him causes worry, stress and anxiety in my life. Its not just trusting Him with my future plans, He has been showing me that I need to trust Him with my present daily plans. Handing every area of planning over to Him hasn’t been the easiest and I still mess up a lot and try to control my life daily. But realizing that if He is in control of my life relieves the anxiety that I have of failing. If He is in control everything will work out according to His plans even if I make mistakes and His plan is perfect. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

We often wonder about the will of God for our lives, but here is something to consider: Obedience to revealed truth guarantees guidance in matters unrevealed. Is there something you know to be God's will for you right now? Have you done it? Don't ask God to reveal His will beyond that until you take care of what you know is His will. We say that we want God's will, but often we want Him to reveal it first so we can decide whether or not we are going to do it.

Mary said, "Let it be to me according to your word." Have you made that commitment as well?

Inspired by Greg Laurie's Devotion

Alaska Hike with my brother and sister