Growing in Faith: Embrace Your Faith as You Did as a Child

When I was in high school, my favorite band was Jars of Clay. Now, I don't tend to choose a favorite band solely by music, though it is important that I like their music. However, I loved Jars of Clay because they got it that Christianity wasn't looking at life through rose-colored glasses. Life wasn't all sunshine and roses. Life could be hard and depressing and people could still have faith in God.

Now, that being said, they have the song "Faith Like A Child." This is, of course, a reference to the passage in Matthew 18 that says, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.'"

The reason that this came to mind with two questions and an act stand from a stand up routine is because of what they asked.

The two questions asked were "Is God a human?" and "Could you call God a gentleman?"

I answered those questions saying that God was a spirit and that we run into problems when we try to explain and define God, though I had more in my answer than that.

Then, the stand up act is the "Phone Call With God" by Ellen DeGeneres. It's funny and I do like it. Yet, don't we all ask those questions?

As I've gotten older, I tend to mull over more and more of these questions in my head. Thankfully they really have only helped me have a stronger faith.

However, they can be quite confusing.

Just last night my mind wandered back to a question that my sister asked awhile ago - "Why did God create mosquitos?"

One answer that came to mind was that vaccines didn't always exist, so how were we to be vaccinated at the time?

However, last night, it also went further. Then my mind wandered to why were there any types of bacteria and viruses. After all, if God hadn't created those, we wouldn't have gotten sick.

Then God seemed to answer right away that if those weren't created, we really might not be that clean. Also, God was really taking care of all those plants that he had created and the animals. He didn't want to give us all the work.

However, my mind could have kept wandering. Sometimes it tends to do that.

Thankfully, last night, it did not. However, it did make me miss those days as a child. I remember my faith as a child. I did not always understand things, but I know I believed in God and I know I had a strong belief in God.

Now, I've either been blessed or cursed (no, I'm just kidding about the cursed part, I've totally be blessed) with a pretty good and keen memory. That's not to say I can remember everything I'm told or that I do. I do forget things and sometimes I forget them quite easily. However, I can remember many little things that happened in my life.

Growing up in a Lutheran congregation meant hearing the words of institution most every Sunday. There is a part where the pastor sings or says, "with angels and archangels." Now, that makes sense to all of us. We understand that.

As a young girl, I knew about angels. That always made sense. I didn't know about archangels, but that didn't matter because I did not hear that anyway.

I would always hear and believe that the pastor was singing, "angels that are gangels." Now, that makes no sense. I never really understood then, either.

However, I just figured that it was another name for some type of angels like cherubim and seraphim. It didn't matter.

I don't remember the first time I heard about Peter walking on the water. However, I know it had to be at least by the time that I was in second grade and perhaps even earlier.

Anyway, we used to have a small Little Tykes stepstool that my parents would keep in the kitchen so my sister and I could reach the kitchen counters. I loved to go in the kitchen to help my mom cook. I loved to stand on that little stool so I could see what was happening. However, sometimes there really wasn't anything I could do to help. At times, I would get bored just standing there and watching her cook.

One day I decided that if Peter could walk on the water with faith, then I could walk on the air. It had to be possible. However, I was (and still am) afraid of open heights. So, I simply jumped off of that stepstool. Joyfully, I did not feel my feet hit the ground. Instead, I could feel the air under my feet. In fact, I could even feel when my feet hit the ground. I would walk back and forth behind my mom for awhile before I would feel my feet touch the ground.

Usually I would feel myself slowly getting lower when my mom turned. She never saw me walk on the air. I know that some people would tell me that I only imagined this, but I know it really happened. I could still see the top of the stove before I touched the ground. I could not see the top of the stove when my feet were touching the ground. I tried a few times and it never worked.

I never had questions about why God had done things. Even when I didn't understand things or got confused about them (I used to hate passing cemeteries, not because I had a fear of dead bodies that were buried, but that I did not understand that they did not hang people on a cross when they were certain that they were going to die as one time I was certain that I had seen a body hanging on a cross and dying), I really did not question God about those things.

As I grew older, as we all do, more and more questions arose. Now, I do think questions are good because they do make your faith stronger. However, at times, they were not very fun. I was a horrible confirmation student. I had about a week of wondering if God really existed. It took a lot longer to figure out that I was exactly where I belonged.

Then, there are other things that I think are really cool like auras (which just help me believe even more in God - and you can ask me about this if you'd like) that arise.

Sometimes when these questions arise, I long for the days when it seemed so simple to just believe. I just want to be able to have that faith I had as a child. While I love things that help me to believe and that keep me in the faith, I miss the days when God didn't need to show me those things at all.

May God always help you to remember your faith when you were a child to help keep you in the faith now!