O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger. Psalms 8:1-2
It is just like the Lord to use the voices of the weakest and most vulnerable of His children to silence the enemy. When a child first learns to speak, it is a joyous and wonderful time and all around rejoice at this milestone in their life. Then suddenly, you realize that with their gift of speaking there is one thing that is not included in the package — a filter! Young children, (the children referred to in our verses would probably have been between one and three years old), many times say things that are nothing short of cringe-worthy to the adults who are with them.
There is, however, another aspect to this season of life that is not only positive but also powerful. Children have the capacity to learn about God and to know and trust Him. Their faith in God is untainted by time and “experience”. They have not been entrapped in the snare of the fear of man. The same obliviousness to what others think that sometimes leads to them saying things that would be better left unsaid also gives them the boldness to declare things that literally stop the devil in his tracks!
Add to that the fact that they (hopefully) have been taught that God is bigger than even the biggest fear they have ever faced. As far as they know, God can do anything. They have not yet learned to look at the wind and waves of life instead of following the voice of the Good Shepherd. They have not yet learned to trust in their own senses above the Word of God. They have not learned to doubt God. Yes, the enemy fears that kind of faith above all!
What a contrast when Jesus is riding into Jerusalem to the sound of praise, with children shouting “hosanna to the Son of David” and the most learned and religious people in the crowd telling Jesus to make them stop shouting such things. But Jesus said that the Father had perfected praise in the voices of those children. No fear of man, no doubt, just faith.
Sure, children have a lot to learn as they grow and mature. As they develop discretion, there are many things that, for good reasons, they will not utter out loud. At the same time, let us encourage them to never lose their boldness to praise God and proclaim His majesty, no matter who is around. And even though their faith will be tested along life’s path, with the wind and waves sometimes seemingly too much to bear, let us encourage them to keep the faith of their childhood; a faith that knows that God is bigger!
Finally, if you have let some of the wonder of that child-like faith get away from you, today is the day to get it back. No matter what disappointments you have faced in this life or how many things have happened or even could be happening right now that you cannot understand, there was a time when you knew that God was bigger than all of it and that you didn’t need to understand, but only to hold onto His hand. That’s the place to get back to, the place where you once again have the boldness and faith of a child!
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