My toddler son Jim will often walk up to me, look up with those big blue eyes, hold up his small fingers, and say, “Daddy. Hand.”
If you can resist that, you are made of stone.
I am not made of stone and so I will give Jim my hand. He will then take me to show me something. Sometimes it is something that he has discovered. Other times it is because he is afraid of something. Many times he will lead me to the cabinet and say, “Fish.”
Jim knows by now that if he makes the simple request of “Hand” to his mom or myself, that we will go with him. Even if he has to wait a few moments, we’re going to take him by his hand. He doesn’t always get what he wants when we get to where he wants to go, but he knows we’re going to go with him there. It is, by very definition, childlike faith.
God is not made of stone either. And technically, I do not have to ask God to go somewhere with me. But there is something about asking God to go with me, to be with me. It is a lot of things. It is childlike faith. It is reminder that God is with me, a reminder that keeps me from doing stupid stuff sometimes. God being with me does not guarantee that I get what I want, but remembering that God is with me helps in those times when things go wrong.
My relationship with Jim continually reminds me that I need to be more childlike in my relationship with God. I need to trust God like my son trusts his parents. I am not too old to come to God and say, “Hand.”