I picked my four year old daughter up from childcare the other day, and as she hoped into our car, she saw a bus drive past. 

“Mum, why do buses have monkey bars in them? Did Jesus put them in for big people, so they don’t forget how to play?” she asked.

It hadn’t occurred to me that the bars used to steady passengers standing on a bus could be seen as monkey bars. 

The idea of it almost made travelling on a bus sound fun.

The whole way home, she shared with me all the things she could and hoped she could do on monkey bars. It took me back to the joy of playing with friends at primary school on a climbing frame.

Her perspective got me thinking about Jesus and my faith in Him. As an adult, I see Jesus as my stability, my rock, my strength, a bit like holding onto bars on a bus, but He is so much more than that. He brings to my life joy, laughter, fun, friends, and new challenges, as my daughter pointed out. 

I remember, as a child, the constant blisters and calluses formed as I learnt new ways to move around the bars. I would fall off many times, but then jump back up on again. My relationship with Jesus and stepping out in faith can look like this. I step out in faith, I feel overwhelmed or out of my comfort zone and lose my grip, but then, I come back to Him again.

I had to practise every lunch and recess time to gain the muscles I needed to keep hold of the bars. I did this with joy and I trusted that the bars could hold me. My relationship with Jesus is no different. I need to come to Him daily, read His word and spend time with Him. I can put my trust in Him, that He will strengthen and stabilise me.

Sometimes we allow a simple faith in Jesus to become complicated and joyless. Faith is a living and active part of our relationship with Him. 

Perhaps the bars in buses are monkey bars?

I hope to keep a child’s perspective.