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By Betsy Ore Glass

How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!
The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me.
Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me. 

– Psalm 116:5-7 NLT

We talk about building faith and many people are coming to a relationship with God for the very first time. We are told to approach God with a childlike way and spirit. We can speak simply to Him, not using fancy words in our prayers. Our vocabulary isn’t nearly as important as our heart. A child’s heart is pure and innocent and that is what pleases God. A childlike faith is tender and young and while those just starting out don’t know a lot about the Bible, they know enough of what is important, because they have chosen to seek and follow God.

Being childlike is sweet and genuine. Children listen to what is being told to them and they believe it. They view the world with eyes of love and kindness and a heart of wonder. Joy comes easy to them. Their demeanor is so precious.  Some confuse childlike behavior and childishness. There is a big difference in the two. Some childish traits are acting spoiled, rebelling, pouting and brooding. While we know better, we can’t resist giving in to our emotions and feelings and acting out these traits like a small child sometimes. Temper tantrums don’t glorify God! Thank heavens that God continuously perfects us and I am grateful He hasn’t given up on me! How merciful He is! We are all a work in progress.

We have choices. Be childlike or behave childishly when we act and react to things. What’s really important is how we choose to handle disappointments and difficult situations. Give it all to God. Release it. Let it go. And be sure to choose not to savor it in our mind and heart like cherished treasures because that keeps the feelings and emotion alive inside of us! God is so good to us. He will save us from ourselves if we allow Him! We have to let Him do a work in us. We will begin to see our childlike faith develop into a foundation of strong spiritual maturity and the tendency to behave childishly will begin to disappear.

Betsy Ore Glass has long-standing ties to the Outer Banks. From Virginia Beach, her family bought a vacation cottage in the 60s and her love of the area began. Later in the 90s, Betsy and her husband bought a weekend cottage and introduced the area to their children. Then Betsy’s parents retired to KDH where the family gathered often. Reach her at betsyglass1@gmail.com or read additional Reflections at www.betsyoreglass.com.

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