The first time on an airplane can be exhilarating or scary and can inspire a wide range of emotions. More than anything, it’s unknown.

Recently, I got to watch my 4-year-old nephew experience his first airplane flight. His eyes were wide and his expression expectant. All he really wanted to know was, “are we in the air yet?”

He had such trust in the airplane’s ability to lift us all into the air without ever experiencing it himself, simply because we told him that is how it would work. He didn’t have any of the fear that some of us adults have about falling 10,000 feet out of the sky, because he’s too young to know the stories and history.

Watching him got me thinking about what Jesus said in Mark 10:15, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (NIV) Little Willy exemplified the beauty and purity of a child’s faith on that first flight and I believe he can teach us so much about what faith can look like in our lives…

Expecting, trusting, believing.

Personally, child-like faith can almost feel like a weakness because, in it’s simplicity, it feels like naivety. The longer I continue in my journey with Jesus, the harder it is to claim to be naïve about the things of life and God. I’ve found that hanging on to that pure simplicity in my faith from when I first believed is something I desperately need.

I speculate that perhaps the reason Jesus said that we needed to come to Him like a child is because he understood our own inherent weakness in overcomplicating life, our relationships, and perhaps most importantly our faith.

Willy exemplified the trust that is necessary in our walk with God. No matter where you’re at on your journey with God, a simplistic trust is one of the requirements of faith. Trust that He is who He says He is, trust that He has a plan for our lives and that when we surrender to it, it’s better than anything we could’ve done on our own, trust that His love for us literally never wavers. Just trust.

Jeremiah 17:7 | Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. (NIV)

So, will you embark on a new flight of faith? Embrace the unknown? Trusting fully in God alone?