At dinner recently, five-year-old John prayed, “God, I hope you’re having a good day up in Heaven.” Jesus praised this innocent faith in little ones and said we couldn’t enter the Kingdom without it. John has been able to go to camp with us a couple of weeks this summer. He soaks in the stories of God in our assemblies and at home. On a rainy afternoon at our house, after a long tiring day, we watched ‘Josh and the Great Wall’, one of the Bible stories from the creative people of VeggieTales. This episode recounts the conclusion of the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness and their victory at Jericho as Joshua led the people to faithfully obey God’s unusual instructions. John was quite impressed when the wall came tumbling down.<\/p>\n
After the show concluded, he started to walk out of the room, but stopped and said, “Dana, I’ve got to do something.” He then walked to our den window, looked up into the cloudy sky, and started praying: “God, me and Dana really want to play outside. Would you let the sun come out? Would you make the rain stop? Please!”<\/p>\n
So a forty-nine-year-old man, needing faith for the day, played ball with a little boy who believed the same God that brought down Jericho’s walls could let the sun shine a couple of hours before bedtime. I don’t think it rained another drop that afternoon.<\/p>\n
Faith must be most pleasing to God when it is child-like. This is my desire: to walk with God in simple trust. I am the child; He is the Father. I am the clay; He is the Potter. I am the branch; Jesus is the Vine. Why should it be more complicated?<\/p>\n
So when we reach the moment of crisis or when we enter the dark valley, we can recall with deep, but simple faith David’s classic song: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I don’t need a thing. He leads me into still and quiet places; He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for the glory of His wonderful Name. Even if I enter the valley of the shadow of death, I have no reason to fear, for you, Jesus, are with me. You comfort me with your rod and your staff; you anoint me with the oil of your Spirit; you pour more into my cup than my cup can hold! You even prepare a table where we can fellowship in the presence of our enemies. I want to have a good day in your presence! Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in your house forever.”<\/p>\n
Susan and I recently celebrated our 28th anniversary in a place in South Carolina rich with history. Slaves from the 1700’s until emancipation communicated simple confidence in the Good Shepherd, though they were thousands of miles from home. Alex Haley, the author of “Roots,” closed a 1981 article about the Gullah people of Daufuskie Island with their rendition of a section of David’s Psalm. Simple faith…<\/p>\n
“Eben do a wak tru de daak walley ob de shada ob det, a yent scayd, cuz oona da stay ‘long me.” Psalm 23:4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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