IN FOCUS: Lessons from a granddaughter

I recently had a couple of meetings in Central Texas that gave us the opportunity to visit our daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters.

Our newest granddaughter is 6 weeks old. Her big sister, Ella, is 3 years old. She and I conspire to get into a lot of mischief for which I insist that neither of us get in trouble.

We play an assortment of games that Ella makes up and, somehow, always wins. I don’t have any idea about the rules. I suspect that is why I never win, and she always does. One of the things our games accomplish is they provide me with the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a 3-year-old. Her world is not nearly as serious as I make things. There are times when I need that.

We played one of our games at the restaurant where we were waiting to be seated. Ella would stand in a windowsill, look directly at me with this wonderful smile on her face, and in complete trust, fall forward into my arms. Of course, I would catch her, and she would clamor to do it once again. It would never occur to me to violate her trust and not catch her.

I love all my children and grandchildren deeply and would never want to violate the trust and faith they place in me.

Sometimes, I get so caught up in the world around me and the tasks at hand that it is easy to forget the simple lessons of faith that should be so obvious to all believers every minute of their lives.

• All of us have a heavenly Father whose love for us is so much more complete than anything we can share with our family that it is almost unfathomable. I can trust him with greater confidence than my 3-year-old granddaughter can trust me.

• We have a heavenly Father who will catch us when we fall.

• We have a heavenly Father who loves us enough to suffer for us and sacrifice himself for us.

• Truly, he can be trusted with whatever we face every day.

That is not news to believers. While the knowledge of our faith is one thing, the difficulty we face comes when we try to put it into practice. We know the Father will catch us, but are we willing to risk falling into his loving arms with abandon? Are we willing to attempt things of faith that will utterly fail without the intervention of our Lord?

That is the faith that more than sustains us. That is the faith that will enable us to share the hope of Christ with so many in our world who do not know him.

Sometimes, the best faith lessons are the simplest. On a Sunday, the lesson came to me through the eyes of a 3-year-old who trusted me enough to fall into my arms. May I do the same with my heavenly Father.

Steve Vernon is associate executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.