Building Faith
When my son, Michael, was about 9 (he is now 19), God gave me the perfect opportunity to teach Michael about faith.
It was the first part of December and Michael wanted to put the Christmas tree up, along with lights, decorations, and the Nativity set. We had only lived in this apartment for a short time. Finding the right boxes was a challenge, but he pushed through the piles of boxes that hadn’t been unpacked until he found everything he was looking for.
My son’s love for this season of the year has always touched my heart. When funds were tight and store-bought gifts just a dream, he would search through his room for his toys and movies and wrap these gifts for each family member and place them under the tree. He would take great care in selecting the right gift for each person. He would think each gift through and then carefully use whatever he could find in our craft scraps to wrap each gift.
Putting up the tree up was huge for him and this started his “shopping” season. As we pulled the tree stand from the box, I noticed there was a huge crack in one of the plastic legs. I asked God to help me work it out so we could still put the tree up. As Michael noticed the stand wouldn’t assemble properly, he became anxious. “Mom, we have to have a tree! What are we going to do? Can you buy a new stand, ple-e-e-e-a-se?”
I asked him to bring me my trusty duct-tape. It fixes everything! We took care to tape the leg back together and secure it to the stand. Looking at the stand, I was doubtful this would work. I asked Michael, “Do you think God can make this tree stand work- even with all the lights and decorations on the tree?” He looked a little skeptical. I once again asked Michael if he was willing to pray and ask God to help our little plastic tree stay upright for the entire Christmas season, even with years of ornaments and lights on.
I explained when we can’t see, that is where faith comes in. Faith believes God can and will do extraordinary things in our life if we seek him, study His Word, and trust Him. We first have to ask. God wants to be part of our lives.
We knelt before that plastic stand and prayed and asked God to strengthen and hold that tree in place. Then, we thanked him. Not only did God strengthen that stand and hold the tree for one season, but for four Christmas seasons!
If God cares about the littlest details, like a plastic tree stand, don’t you think he cares so much more for you? That was a defining moment in Michael’s life. He has never forgotten that. I thank God he used a broken stand to build Michael’s faith in Him.
