A Girl Named Little, Part 2 - A Childlike Faith

If you haven't read Part 1 of "A Girl Named Little," you can find it here.

A bit about Little

“One in every three females will be sexually abused in some manner in their lifetime.”  Little was in the car with her mom when she heard this on the radio.  It had been at least a year since that fateful night when her grandfather offered to stay home from a family trip to the movies to babysit her.  At least a year since the first time he touched her and forced her to touch him. 

Over that year, Little had grown numb to the weight of the secret she was carrying.  She had made a choice not to tell; not to risk upsetting her family; and although she was terrified, she was going to stick to that decision. 

Little couldn’t stop thinking about what she had just heard.  “One in every three,” the radio announcer had said.

‘Okay,’ thought Little, ‘if it’s one in every three, and I am one, then I can pick two other girls to never have to go through this.”  Little was only 7 years old.  She didn’t understand statistics.  So she said a prayer, right there in the car, in silence of course, for her two best friends.  “God, I pick Tanya and Jenny.  I’ll be the one for the three of us.  Now they will be safe.  Now they will never be abused.”  Little wasn’t really asking, she was telling.  It gave her a good feeling to be able to save her friends, since it was too late for anyone to save her.  Not many things gave her a really good feeling anymore, but protecting her friends…that was worth feeling good about!

A bit of Inspiration

One question that I’m sure Little will want to ask in Heaven is, “God, did you protect Tanya and Jenny… Did you honor that innocent yet profound prayer spoken from the heart of a young child?”  She’ll ask that question only because she has now grown up, and as a ‘grown-up’ she wonders.

But if Little had gone to Heaven while she was still ‘little,’ she wouldn’t have thought to ask…she would have simply assumed it had been done.

Somewhere in the process of growing up…in the midst of all of our learning, growing and maturing, we lose something important…childlike faith.  

Mark 10:14-15 says, “…Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  (NIV)   The Message version of verse 15 says, “Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in."

Little saw God with simplicity.  She asked fully expecting to receive, and it brought her a joy that nothing else in her life could bring her.  If she couldn’t trust that God would answer her prayer, there would have been nothing to feel good about. 

As an adult, I don’t just accept God’s faithfulness so easily.  I question, I explain, I analyze.  I put God in a “logic box,” so that I can maybe grasp some sort of understanding of what is happening around me.  If I learn to really trust His faithfulness and if I expect Him to fulfill His promises, I might have a lot more to feel good about as well!

What does a ‘childlike faith’ look like to you?  Do you know any adults who have one?  Do you have one?

(Keep checking back for more about Little's story...there're so many secrets to uncover.)