This morning I was outside and enjoying the crisp dawn air and the fresh, bright, new sunlight, the way it is when dawn has just broken and the day feels untouched.
I was praying and as I did God began to speak to me about faith."Simple Faith" was how He called it and as He did it filled me with such a light joy, the joy of a child with no cares in the world. The kind that makes you and your eyes sparkle.
In religious circles, faith can quickly become synonymous with an arduous undertaking. The pushing of a boulder up a hill. "I'm trying to have faith." It's seen as a sweaty, white knuckled endeavor. Painful even.
In stark contrast, He showed me children: how they look at their parents who they trust, have perfect faith in. How their faces beam with assurance, how they smile and know they are taken care of, loved, that whatever their parent says will be so and whatever they face, their parent will be there to help them.
The simple faith of a child isn't a stressful job they undertake every day, something they pull at while their hands ache. It's not a decision they struggle with. They wake up with peace and excitement because their innocent faith is whole and intact.
Children and adults who have tasted the bitter sting of disappointment or other blows from life don't have this. Outstretched arms wrap around their middles in self-protection. Smiles fade into tense, or even angry stares. Hearts that were once light become heavy, minds that were curious, open, and assumed the best grow suspicious and cycle regularly with worry and fear.
How does one then, who has knowledge of the shadows, put on this faith?
By keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. That's the only way. Our hand in His. Our hearts stayed on the One who loves us with the purest of loves.
"looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2
He's called the Author and Finisher of our faith.
This isn't a faith that denies reality of today. No. It's a simple faith that knows Who holds today together.
It's not a faith that has eyes closed in denial. It's faith that refuses to let a shadow have the final say because it knows Who authored the light.
He showed me why this faith is so important. The reason He showed me was prayer. Authority.
He showed me a schoolyard with boys about to go at it engaged in the verbal back and forth that often precedes a fight. I'd seen this before as a child at recess.
The boys weren't talking about what they were going to do, as the little boys always did at that age, they were talking about their fathers. "My dad could lift this whole tree!" "Well my dad could lift your dad!"
And it reminded me of when David approached Goliath in battle and said, "The God who delivered me from the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." 1 Samuel 17:37
When David went into battle, he knew He could do what he came to do because of Who was behind him. Just like those little boys hyping themselves up to wrestle on elementary school pavement. They were talking about their fathers and as I basked in the cool light of morning, and this light assurance, one I hadn't felt since I was child, that easy, simple, joyful, makes-you-want-to-laugh faith came over me.
Some of you have been praying for things you don't believe you can have. Praying while simultaneously and prematurely accepting defeat. Asking while making peace with not having.
You are laying down in a fight perhaps because your heart has been dealt blow after blow and you don't know how to get up.
God sees you. And He wants you to remember what it was like to believe as a child believes.
A child's faith doesn't wish upon a star, a child's faith knows.
Some of you are praying, but it's like that little mouse in the movie singing, "Somewhere out there" into the dark night. When you're a child of God, you don't have to look for shooting stars or send paper boats of wishes downstream. With a heart full of faith, your words will move the current and pull the answered prayer to you.
You'll know you're praying in faith when you start saying, "thank you" before you even see it. You'll be so sure that you're excited and filled with gratitude, the way a child jumps up and down when a promise is said because they know without a shadow of a doubt it'll come to pass.
You must go back there because faith are the hands by which we receive and there are things God wants to give you.
There are things He wants you to know.
Faith is the road by which the miracles travel.
Someone is thinking they don't want to believe anymore, it's too painful to fall.
If that's you, I understand and wish I could sit beside you. Remember that Jesus the author and perfecter of your faith. There are times I would begin to pray and God would remind me, "Bring your faith." Like a backpack I'd run out of the house without. I'd began praying but had forgotten to apply my faith. I'd go get it and begin again.
Bring your faith. No matter how small it is right now. Remember, He multiplies things all the time. And a mustard seed is quite a lot in the unseen. He said we could move mountains with it.
So take your mustard seed and hold it as you pray. If it helps, go outside into the light of day.
Bury yourself in His words, reading them, letting His voice heal you and spark that little spark of faith into roaring flames until it's simply who you are.
Don't give up.
It's the simple faith of a child who knows.
love, Bunmi ♥️
The promises of God begin and end with Yeshua, Jesus, because He is the reconciliation. If you've been walking through life on your own and want to be a child of God, here's how to begin.