Embracing Childlike Innocence and Trust

Leif Holmes

A recent prayer I have begun praying over the last few months is this: “Lord, I want to live in childlike openness, innocence and trust before You like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.”

I base this prayer on what Jesus said in Matthew 18:3-4 – “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

It is pure speculation, but my guess is that before the Fall, Adam and Eve related to God in the exact way that Jesus describes in these verses – innocent, dependent, vulnerable. Consequently, it makes me think of how children think, talk and act:

·       Children embrace their limitations without shame

·       Children are not surprised or anxious that they need help beyond themselves

·       Children are not proud or ashamed to ask for help, they expect it, (in fact, this is their first instinct from birth!)

The utter tragedy of the Fall is that Adam and Eve lost this childlike innocence of trust in God. In Eden, Satan got them to question God’s goodness by shaming them for their (perceived) inadequacy. He made them believe that God was NOT all they needed. When they realized what they had done, they felt shame. And instead of going to God they hid from Him, and tried to cover it up themselves!

And this has been our standard MO ever since. To live in childlike trust and vulnerability is rarely risked. Instead, we make up for our inadequacies before God and other people by covering ourselves with whatever “leaves” we can. Of course, this does not work, just as it did not for Adam and Eve.

In the Garden, it was God who sought out Adam and Eve, asking, “Where are you?” (Knowing full well, of course, where they were!) It was God who “made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.” (Gen. 3:21) This is his heart, both then and now.

God calls us out from our hiding, and asks us to acknowledge our inadequacy, our insufficiency, our desperate need for Him. He does not do this to shame or punish us, but to release us from our guilt and shame!

Let me finish with this illustration:  

Recently, my son-in-law, daughter, and almost 18-month-old granddaughter have moved in with us for a season. I have been enjoying and treasuring these moments. My granddaughter has no qualms letting us know about when she needs something whether that is food, drink, or anything else for that matter! She automatically points and grunts expecting us to get what she wants for her! She plays blissfully as she is given a bath or her diaper is changed. She is dependent upon us for pretty much everything.

In the same way, I believe God wants us, His children, to live in childlike innocence and trust with Him. This is what becoming like a little child means, AND it is what Jesus modeled for us:

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Matthew 11:25