How to Think Like a Child

A little boy spied a damaged wooden fence while out on a walk with his mother. "It's broken", he said pointing to it. "What happened, Mommy?" 

"I don't know, baby”, she answered. 

The boy was silent for a time, and then spoke up confidently. "It's okay. Daddy can fix it."

When we're little, our caring parents seem to be all powerful. They know everything and can do anything. We never doubt their abilities. We turn to them in time of need. When we're scared, we run to them. When we bruise our knee, our mother's kiss makes it better. If a toy breaks, our father can put it back together. 

Unfortunately, not everyone experiences loving parents.  Orphans come in two types: true orphans—those without parents, and emotional orphans—those with abusive or neglectful parents. Because of their experiences, orphans grow up with a different perspective altogether. Difficult circumstances are seen as insurmountable due to their limited resources and support. Without someone to depend on, they have no choice but to rely on themselves. They struggle as best they can to get by.      

Whatever our earthly parental experience, once we accept Christ we are no longer spiritual orphans.  With God as our father, we each have the perfect parent. No one can love us more or better than He can, nor can anyone—or anything—exceed His power. There is no hurt He can't heal. There is no damage He can't repair. And there is nothing so dead that He can't give it new life. 

Yet despite our new identity, we sometimes revert back to our old way of thinking. We forget whose we are. We see the difficult circumstance as insurmountable. We try to get by on our own, overlooking the one who is all powerful and completely dependable. When we give in to fear, we fail to behave like a child of the King. But we can change this by learning to overcome orphan thinking as soon as it appears.    

1. Be Aware of Yourself- The first indication of orphan thinking is a change in emotions. When we are in tune with our feelings, we can easily sense if our peace is slipping away to fear, doubt and worry. 

2. Speak the Truth of Who You Are- We may feel like an orphan for the moment, but that isn’t who we are. Those days are behind us. We received a new identity through Christ, becoming a full heir of the King's. We need to embrace it.    

3. Look at God Not Circumstances- Our view of God diminishes when our focus is on the problem, instead of on Him. He created the universe and all of creation obeys His every word. He is so much bigger than our current circumstances. With our focus on Him, we maintain a proper perspective seeing things as they really are.  

4. Recall His Presence- We are never alone. When we think of the many times in our life that He has helped us in our time of need, we remember that He always has our best interest in mind. Bible stories show us that He is ever faithful to His children. He is always dependable and there for us.    

5. Commit to Give Praise- The final step to change orphan thinking is to thank God for all He is and all He has done. Authentic praise propels us directly into His presence. Once there, we are able to regain our peace and once again think like a child. 

Message for the Journey:

Children never doubt that Daddy can fix the problem, no matter what it is. He is so big and powerful. When we think like a child of God's, we know with confidence that it is true. When we fall to orphan thinking, we see our present circumstances as insurmountable.  Our peace gives way to fear, doubt and worry. Orphans only have themselves to rely on. But we are not orphans. We are children of the King's. We can always run to our Daddy. No power is greater than His, and no problem is beyond Him.

                                                                                                ©AnnWilds2011

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