The church we served at in Coleraine, Northern Ireland totally gets Jesus. Causeway Coastal Vineyard Church is outwardly focused on God’s mission. Their sole purpose is to seek the lost, invite them into their community, and show them our Father’s undeniable love. From there, they provide discipleship and tools to send them back out to seek the lost.
One aspect that really challenged me our entire month were the ministries of evangelism and healing on the streets (HOTS). Every single Saturday for the past nine years, people from the Vineyard Church go to the town square in Coleraine to pray for anyone that needs healing. Healing from anything: injuries, surgeries, recovery, addiction, pains, anxiety, depression, etc.
This ministry was absolutely not in my comfort zone, it was scary; and to be honest, I had a lot of doubt about praying for healing. Not that I don’t believe healing can happen, I know it can. But what about instantaneous healing? This was something that sounded almost crazy.
Out of obedience and trust in the Lord I participated in these ministries. I knew since it made me uncomfortable I wanted to try it because this was somewhere I could grow in my faith. I did it out of my love for Jesus because I know that God can do what I cannot and God can do something even if I do not understand it. But the entire month I continued to outwardly express my doubt, my frustration, and my lack of understanding.
Finally, here in Romania, my teammate Amanda encouraged and challenged me to have the faith of a child. She said, “Lyndsay, I know a lot of the ministry this past month was so new to you but I want to challenge you to have child-like faith and just believe what Jesus tells us. Almost as if you were a child believing what your mom and dad tell you. That kind of faith.”
This changed everything.
My mind went back to my childlike faith and I remember a time when it was in its purest form. This reminded me of a moment when I was in first grade eating dinner at my friends house. At the dinner table, her parents asked me what my dad did for work and I replied he played for the Dallas Cowboys.
Granted my dad never played football with Emmitt Smith.
But the backstory on this is that my dad has always had a great sense of humor and he joked around with me a lot as a child. I remember how much he loved the Dallas Cowboys when I was little and even one time possibly joking and telling me he played for the Boys. If my Father told me something I believed it with my whole heart.
I listened to my Father when I was little. Because he loved me so much and I trusted him.
And still today, I believe my Father and I trust him. Both here on earth and in heaven.
I want to challenge us to have childlike faith. We can go back to the kind of faith we had as a child. The faith believing that if we swallow a watermelon seed, a watermelon will grow in our stomach. The kind of faith that believes sharks could really be in our swimming pool because our sister said so. The sweet, innocent faith that Jesus can touch us, and in an instant, we can be made completely new.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18: 1-5
