Have you ever watched a baby stare intently at an empty corner of a room, smiling as though someone is smiling back?

Or heard a small child speak about Jesus with such certainty and simplicity that it makes you wonder what they understand—or perhaps what they see—that we adults have forgotten how to notice?

There is something beautiful about the faith of a child.

Children have not yet learned to analyze everything. They haven’t built all the walls that adulthood can bring. They don’t always need an explanation before they believe. Their hearts can be open to wonder, trust, and the possibility that there is more around us than what our physical eyes can see.

And perhaps there is a lesson for us there.

They See With Different Eyes

The Bible tells us that the spiritual world is real even though we cannot ordinarily see it with our physical eyes.

In 2 Kings 6, Elisha’s servant was terrified because an enemy army surrounded them. Elisha knew, however, that they were not alone.

He prayed:

“Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.” — 2 Kings 6:17

Then God opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw what had been there all along—the mountain filled with horses and chariots of fire.

The reality didn’t suddenly appear. His eyes were simply opened to it.

That passage makes me think about children.

We should be careful about claiming with certainty what a baby or young child is seeing when they gaze, smile, point, or talk about Jesus. But their openness can remind us of something Scripture clearly teaches: there is more to God’s reality than what our natural eyes perceive.

Jesus Welcomed the Little Children

Jesus had a special tenderness toward children.

When people brought little children to Him and the disciples tried to send them away, Jesus said:

“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” — Mark 10:14

Then He said something even more challenging:

“Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” — Mark 10:15

Jesus wasn’t telling us to become childish.

He was showing us something about childlike faith.

A little child reaches for the hand of someone they trust without first demanding to know every detail of the journey.

That’s the kind of trust God desires from us.

Maybe We Have Learned to Look Too Hard

As adults, we want evidence.

We want answers.

We want to understand how, when, and why.

And when we cannot understand something, we sometimes struggle to believe it.

Children can be different.

They can accept mystery without needing to solve it.

Maybe that is part of what we’ve lost.

We become so dependent upon what we can see with our physical eyes that we forget Paul’s words:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7

Faith doesn’t mean ignoring truth or abandoning wisdom. It means trusting God even when we cannot see the entire picture.

Sometimes our physical eyes can actually distract us from seeing spiritually.

We look at the impossible circumstances.

We look at the diagnosis.

We look at the empty bank account.

We look at the broken relationship.

We look at everything that tells us God couldn’t possibly be working.

Meanwhile, faith whispers:

Look again.

We Need That Blind Faith

Maybe what we need is a little more of that childlike, “blind” faith—not blindness to truth, but trust before sight.

Faith that says:

Jesus, I cannot see You, but I know You are here.

I don’t understand what You’re doing, but I trust You.

I cannot see the road ahead, but I will take Your hand.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

There it is again:

Things not seen.

The Christian life has never been about believing only what our eyes can prove.

It is about learning to see with the heart.

Lord, Open Our Eyes

Maybe instead of dismissing the wonder of children, we should allow it to challenge us.

When a little child talks freely about Jesus, perhaps we should listen.

When their prayers are simple and confident, perhaps we should learn from them.

When they believe Jesus loves them without requiring a theological explanation of every detail, perhaps we should remember what it felt like simply to trust.

Children don’t have all the answers.

Neither do we.

But Jesus never said we needed all the answers before coming to Him.

He asked us to believe.

Perhaps our prayer should be the same prayer Elisha prayed so long ago:

“Lord, open our eyes.”

Open our eyes to Your presence.

Open our eyes to Your goodness.

Open our eyes to what You’ve been doing while we’ve been worrying.

Open our eyes to the miracles we’ve stopped noticing.

Open our eyes to the spiritual reality beyond what we can touch and see.

And give us hearts like little children again—hearts willing to trust You before we understand everything.

Because maybe the faith that seems blind to this world is the very faith through which our eyes finally begin to open.

A Prayer

Jesus, give me the heart of a child.

Remove the doubt, fear, and distractions that keep me from recognizing Your presence. Teach me to trust You when I cannot see You and to believe when I don’t understand.

Lord, open the eyes of my heart.

Help me walk by faith and not merely by what my natural eyes can see. Give me that simple, beautiful, childlike trust that reaches for Your hand and knows You are near.

And when I become too busy, too skeptical, or too distracted to notice You, remind me to become still again.

Amen.