Imaginary Friend

When I was a little girl I always felt someone was watching me. Not like a crazy stalker kind of watch. More like a Santa sees you when you are sleeping and knows when you are awake kind of watch. Our small bathroom in the home I grew up in had a white heater built into the wall. We did not use it much or at least Mom did not light it for me. I guess she was keen to the fear I had of catching my towel on fire since the space was so small. When the fire was not lite, I would stare into it as if something was on the other side watching me and could somehow see me throughout the house. Reality was there was a wall with a couch on the other side, but it didn’t stop my curiosity. I guess I was much like a friend of mine from high school. Brian and I laughed as he told me he used to think smoke coming from large buildings was actually ships docked and being repaired. Never mind we lived in Dallas and there was no dock for said ships.

When we were children, we did not have the full understanding of things. Our reality was different than true reality. As we tried to figure things out, we came up with crazy explanations and our mind was blown as the truth was explained. Sometimes the truth was not quite as interesting as what we came up with on our own so we stuck with our version of reality.

So why does God call us to become like little children in Matthew 18:3?

God invites you to be a kid again.

My son has imaginary friends. That is not a typo. Friends. There is Gracie. He tells me she is a girl so when she sleeps over she has to sleep in Sissy’s room. Then there is Jackson, Russell and even his BFG Team. He has a whole invisible team! Last, but certainly not least is Monster. Monster has been with Jacob the longest. He is a multi color person like thing with multi colored hair and can change colors whenever he wants. The doctor tells me this is not only normal, but also very creative so I do my best to go with it. Sadly I have even shuffled him off instructing him to go play with Monster. His friends are completely invisible to the rest of us and although they argue from time to time, Jacob always has his team on his side. He knows they are not real and can’t be seen by others, but it does not stop him from having a relationship with these fictitious characters.

I think God wants us to feel His presence the way a child grows a relationship with their imaginary friends because God gifted us with the Holy Spirit. While imaginary friends are not real, the Spirit of God is undeniable to those who believe. God can generate unbreakable faith if we allow ourselves to be a bit naïve and more simple minded like a child. Releasing little bits of our complicated and stubborn minds to the Lord allows room for God to enter into what we know to be reality. God’s reality is different. God’s reality derives from unsurpassable knowledge. We can trust Him because of his documented grace, love and faithfulness. His reality is superior to anything our minds are capable of understanding or even dreaming.

Interestingly you can introduce new things to a child and they do not question like an older, more educated person would. They don’t work to prove something is wrong verses simply believing it to be true. God asks us to believe in Him just the same. He wants to work in your life in such a way that no one can tell you He is not who He says He is. God is asking you to believe so that His power and perfect love can be a part of your every day life. The Spirit of God can sound like believing in imaginary friends because it is hard to believe in something we cannot touch, see or hear. But we need to say yes to God and His ways every single day of our lives. We need to trust God with our deepest most dark secrets along with our joys and sorrows. Nothing should be off limits to God.

Truth is we can’t see God, but you could not walk up to me to change my belief by telling me the Holy Spirit is not real. You couldn’t make an intelligent enough argument to tell me I am believing in a God that does not exist. I would continually stand firm in my belief that Jesus is Lord and He got dirty feet from walking miles and miles on our earth. I know because I have felt the power of His love. I have experienced the forgiveness in His grace. I have been speechless by God’s beauty countless times leading me to believe in Him more and more. I know God is who He says He is because His truths have come true in my life.

It is irrelevant I have imperfect faith. Saying yes to God and letting Him into my life does not mean I have to achieve perfection first.  God knows I make bad choices and have a lot to learn - like a child. I have not read the Bible cover to cover and make the same mistakes before I learn the lesson, but God still loves and accepts me. My reality does not matter and when I let it, I create stumbling blocks. Understanding bits and pieces is the way it goes. Knowledge is not gained all at once, but when new truths and commands are learned, they can be implemented and shared.

Even though I thought a watcher was on the other side of the heater, I was not completely wrong. Someone was watching. Someone is watching. God sees our every move. He hears every word we speak and even the thoughts we think we keep to ourselves. An invisible God has been hard for me to fully follow. I originally thought I needed something tangible - a physical hug, a real voice sharing words of wisdom and encouragement. Someone who audibly said they understood my pain and told me what to do next would have been so good in some situations. God doesn’t work the way I thought He should have. But the Holy Spirit does it better than I could have ever imagined.

Starting over as a child allows the Heavenly Father to properly parent His child. We must be honest with God. We can’t say yes wholeheartedly without being honest and confessing our sins to God. Some of our wrongdoings are unseen, but some are causing guilt, shame and heartache to you and those around you. Confess to your Heavenly Father. Allow God to compassionately love on you with grace, understanding and guidance to free you from the pain holding you down. He won’t love you less because you have sinned. He won’t turn His back on you with guidelines of becoming better and a checklist to complete before trying to approach Him again. He already knows you are not perfect. Don’t worry about that part because God is going to transform your doubt. He will always accept you with a welcome so freeing you can’t help but smile. 

Lord, help us to take a leap of faith despite what we do not understand. Give us encouragement to trust you with our lives as a child trusts a good parent. Make our sins known to us so that we can humbly ask for forgiveness and turn from our bad ways. Guide us down a path of righteousness. We thank you for the cross making this all possible. It is in Jesus perfect name we pray. Amen.

Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. –Matthew 18-3:5 (NLT)

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. –Romans 15:13