“Hey mommy, thanks for taking me to McDonalds today!” Your child standing there with the biggest smile on their face anticipating the joyful ride that will render them the meal of the day.

As you audibly rattle off all that you have going on, you question if you heard your child’s words correctly. With a fog infused brain you look at your child’s expectant smile as they spout off potential McDonald choices.

Then you remembered the conversation shared the night before. As you put you your child to bed and planted a kiss on their head, you murmured a gentle promise to help them fall fast asleep: “Go to sleep now, tomorrow you can have McDonalds.

The early morning excitement of your child shouting, “thanks for taking me to McDonalds” now made sense. Your child simply took you at your word. The long list of what you had going on didn’t discourage or disused your child. He didn’t check the forecast, consult a clock or ask for your agenda. Your child simply aligned his plans with your promise.

Have there ever been times in your life where you asked God to grow you into a woman of faith? You don’t want to just trust the Lord for your salvation, you want to trust Him with your steps on earth as well. You want your plans to be aligned with His promise. If you’re like me you read and pray about faith, but that doesn’t negate situations in life that can shake your faith.

In one of those faith shaken moments The Lord brought back to my remembrance one of the many times I promised my children McDonalds to get them to quickly go fall asleep for the night. The memory became so vivid, it made me realize I’d been making faith too complicated.

The Holy Spirit reminded me that faith is not a feeling or philosophy. Faith isn’t a principle or prescription. Faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). When we receive a gift from someone, we don’t make it complicated we just accept the gift, simply no questions asked. In fact, most of the time we are ecstatic to receive the gift.

In Romans 4 the Apostle Paul uses the story of Abraham to teach us about faith that pleased God. Though Abraham was old and his wife was barren, Abraham believed God’s pledge to make him the father of many nations (Romans 4:18). According to Romans 4:20, Abraham never doubted, he believed God and his faith and his trust grew stronger praising God for this blessing even before it happened. Abraham didn’t rely on his own power or resources, he believed God would do what He said He would do, no questions asked.

Abraham’s tale reminds us that faith isn’t an abstract theology, but an active response to the gift. Faith may not always change how we feel about God but it should definitely change the way we walk with Him. Like Abraham, when we take God at His word, we align our steps with the promises God has spoken rather than the probabilities we can see.

We live day to day exercising some form of faith. Even if faith seems simple, it’s not always easy. When my faith begins to waiver, I think back to the bedtime promise I made to my children. Their childlike faith is a reminder that I too need to have childlike faith. If they can trust the promise of an imperfect parent, then I (you) can trust the word of our perfect Father. No questions asked.

PEARLStoPONDER: If God said He’ll do it, it’s not done according to what we want or on our time, but to His will and purpose!

Romans 10:17-- So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:24-- He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Hebrews 11:6-- And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.