When Childlike Faith Becomes Childlike Doubt

Even as an adult I struggle with faith in a God I cannot see.  It takes everything I have sometimes to pull up the memories of His presence in my life, not because He has left me but because I have had my heart elsewhere.  

But the truth of the matter is, I have felt His presence so many times that once I bring to mind one memory, suddenly my mind and spirit are flooded with all that He has done.  

My heart races as I remember the exact second I heard His voice resound in my physical being, shaking me to the core with a message that would change my life.  

Why would He speak to me?  Possibly because I craved Him.  I craved Him more than life itself and in my desperate cry for provision and wisdom, He granted my plea and blessed me with His mighty "daddy voice" echoing through and shattering every doubt I had built up.  

This is why I love Him.  This is why I choose to serve Him with all that I have, and I ask Him to bless through me in all that I have set before me.  

He took time for me.  He gave His son for me.  He held me during the hardest blow to my young adult life, as I watched my mother take her final breath; an emptying echo that left the room feeling raw and my insides burning with anger.

That pain and anger have now healed and He has brought me to a place I could not see before. 

Now, I am raising my boys and trying to pass along that experience, those memories.  But those moments cannot be relived through my own words.  

They have to have their own experiences with Jesus, the one and only true Son of God.  One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.  But we are still human.

What do we do when our children doubt the very God we have fallen in love with?

What will our responses be when they blatantly tell us, they don't believe what we are saying?

The Lord has called me to raise my boys to be God-fearing men of integrity.  But it is not as easy as it sounds.  

What will we do to make the most difference in the lives of our children right now?  

• We pray they may know the difference between right and wrong.

• We pray for and with them, and illustrate how to communicate with the Lord on a daily basis.  

• We hold ourselves to the same standards we require of them, and more.

• We point to God's creation and mark Him as the creator of the universe.

• We trust Him when bad things happen, and let them see how he carries us through our doubts.

• We let them know it is okay for them to have doubts.  

• Testify to what He has done in your own life.  Be real with them by sharing how you have overcome your own doubts and what changed your heart.

• Read the word with them and let them hear the "red letters" for themselves. 

• Lead them in devotional and quiet times that are relevant to their age.

• Have faith yourself.  Look deep into your heart where there may be doubt and eliminate it by strengthening your spirit man.  Be positive.  He has everything under control.

Here is a link for Devotionals for Kids: 
You can subscribe by email and get a devo to share with your kids everyday.  Blessings!

http://www.cbhministries.org/ForKids/KeysforKids/ReadListen.aspx