Still childlike?

The unfolding of Your [glorious] words give light; Their unfolding gives understanding to the simple (childlike). (Psalm 119:130)

If you have ever tried to really 'get into' God's Word, only to find yourself in a little over your head when it comes to understanding what is being said, then you are not alone. The 'understanding' of God's Word seems to come in 'bits and spurts', doesn't it? I think that may be because God knows if we understood it all at one time, we'd be either so overwhelmed, or we'd forget just about everything we were shown in rather short order.

Childlike faith is actually encouraged throughout scripture, with Jesus even telling his disciples the children should never be discouraged from coming to him. Why? A child's mind is curious - it loves to explore. It is open to being taught. Why do you think we start elementary school at an early age? It is because the ability to 'critically think' doesn't really start to develop until around the age of six or so. The child is learning all along, but the ability to actually problem-solve comes as we enter that school age.

Maybe the same is true for us as it applies to our spiritual learning. We are curious at first, then we begin to 'critically think' about what God is saying to us, and at some point, we begin to take what we have been learning and problem-solve with God's help. A child approaches life with curious eyes. If you ever watch a child play, you will observe them taking past experiences and using them to form new experiences. The blocks toppled when just stacked one on top of the other, so they form a 'base' the next time and begin stacking. In time, they realize the sturdier the base is, the better the blocks laid upon the base will be built.

Life with Jesus is like that - a sturdy base must be built first, then the blocks of maturity begin to be added little by little. The times when we really allow God to unfold our understanding are when we are not afraid to admit we are still 'childlike' in our understanding. Just sayin!