I often have conversations with people who made decisions in their childhood. Often, those who did have faced enormous doubts and they find themselves questioning. I know–I was one of those people. We know that the human brain takes years to develop. In fact, we often quip about the lack of judgment of people in their late teens and early twenties and say, “What do you expect when you only have half your brain?” That humor is actually based on fact. The prefrontal cortex, which deals with impulse control, doesn’t complete its journey to full development until the mid-20s, so we all struggle to make good decisions while brain development is incomplete.

Somewhere along the way, we began to diminish and sometimes denigrate those who trusted Christ at a younger age. As one who has heard countless numbers of high school students, college students, young adults, and even middle-aged adults grapple with their faith questions, I want to share an image with you that tells a wonderful perspective.

As a dad, I knew my children could not possibly comprehend my love for them. They could not see the early mornings when I was balancing the checkbook and hoping that I could put back a little money for their future education. They couldn’t comprehend when I took the blame for moving our family from place to place, even though I was convinced that God was leading that decision. They couldn’t know how often I prayed for them, ached for their disappointment, or hoped for their success. They couldn’t understand because they were only children.

What did I want from them? I wanted their love and trust. Simple. Whole-hearted. Genuine. Basic. I wanted them to love their daddy as only they could with what they could muster at the time. I also hoped that as their bodies and minds matured over the years, their love for their dad would grow accordingly. And I sit here years later and am thankful for their mature love. They see my humanity now as they never saw it in childhood. But as a dad, I still relish the affection, the questions, the desire for them to spend time with me. It’s so simple, really. But it’s easy to take for granted.

It’s easy for us to take for granted the simple ways we trust God as our heavenly Father. Does He delight just because we want or need to talk to Him? Does He delight in our simplest trust and affection? Does it matter to Him? I believe so!

On Sunday, a little girl came to the Compass with a single page in her hand. She had colored it and written a simple note. It was just for me, signed with a heart and these simple words: “For Pastor Bruce. . . Love, Steven.”

Last year, I remember coloring with her in a Preschool class when one of our other pastors was preaching. I wanted to spend time with the kids and love them with crayons and time. And up she walked with her coloring page and simple message. It was precious to me. She hugged me and told me about her newborn sister. It was what she could offer me from her young little heart; it was genuine and sweet. And it was like gold to me.

So, to all of you who have trusted Christ in an earlier time and still seek to trust him in your much more complicated, convoluted adulthood, to all who wonder if God considered that childlike faith and affection to be real, to be significant, I offer the words of Jesus Himself:

“I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

That kind of trust is precisely what Jesus wants. He loves us enough to walk with us as our faith matures, questions are raised, life’s hard days send us reeling, and His mercy keeps us anchored.