Help me with my unbelief!

I love Mark's gospel because it is so straightforward. Mark is the Hemingway of gospel writers. Simple sentences. No extra words. Straight to the point. As I read today, I found two verses from two different passages that seem completely unrelated and yet God made a connection for me today. Take a look at them. 

 ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 

¹⁵ I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

The first comes from chapter 9 as a man is pleading with Jesus to cast an evil spirit out of his son. The second comes as Jesus is chastising his disciples for trying to keep children away from him.  Here's he connection I found today. For some people, they see Jesus' teaching that we must be like little children to mean that we should be unquestioning, that we should engage in blind faith. I actually see this quite differently. I believe what Jesus is talking about is not blind faith, but a trusting faith. When I ask my kids to do something they don't understand, I generally try to explain it to them. But, even if they don't understand what I'm asking them to do, they do it because they trust me. They believe that I know more than they do and that I have their best interest at heart. I'm convinced that this is what Jesus is talking about. It's that "because YOU says so I will" attitude that you see when Jesus asks Peter to cast his nets again after fishing all night. It's not an unwillingness to ask questions or wrestle with difficulties, it is a submission to God's authority, goodness and wisdom.

So, when I read the story in Mark 9, that is what I see the father wrestling with. He's been corrupted by adulthood. He's been convinced that he should be completely self-sufficient and mature. He should know all the answers. He should be a grown up. I think that in this moment that he is acknowledgeing this to Jesus. He's saying, help me have the faith of a child. Help me let go of my need to be the authority, the need to be in control. He might even be understanding that regardless of how he might percieve himself, he never was the authority or in control.

Jesus, I want the faith of a child. I don't want blind faith. I don't want simple faith. I don't want unquestioning faith. I want trusting faith. I want an actively submissive faith. I want the kind of faith that connects me with my creator in a way that allows your life to flow through me into the lives of others. Jesus, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.