The Surprising Lesson I Learned From My Daughter

Navigating Childlike Faith in the Pursuit of Excellence

In this episode Olympic sprinter Ronnie Baker shares a personal story about his young daughter, drawing a parallel to the concept of childlike faith. Using biblical references from Matthew and Psalms, Baker explores the importance of depending on God, likening it to how his daughter relies on him for daily needs. He encourages listeners to seek God's guidance before making decisions and emphasizes that true faith begins when pride ends. The devotional concludes with a challenge to integrate childlike faith into daily life and a prayer for divine assistance and surrender.

00:00 Introduction to Ronnie Baker
00:16 A Family Outing
02:13 Childlike Faith
04:04 Dependence on God
07:45 Practical Application of Faith
09:46 Closing Thoughts and Prayer

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Transcript

0:00

He's the third fastest man. Welcome to Defeat is Option. Here comes Ronnie Baker, 9 77. Baker's running away with this one. Surely they can't get back to it. In your journey, the greatness defeat is never the final answer. It's a choice. So let's get to work.

Ronnie Baker 0:16

So let me paint the picture for you guys. it was a Friday evening. Me, my wife and my daughter, we decided we wanted to go out to eat and we had been eating in all week, this is gonna be kind of a treat for us. And my daughter, Maya, who's one and a half years old, we had gotten her ready, put on her clothes, got her jacket on, put her shoes on, and she was dressed and she was ready to go. And so whenever my. Daughter is ready to go and we tell her, Hey, we're gonna go bye-bye. She runs typically to whatever door, and she goes, ready, go, ready, go. She keeps saying, ready, go over and over and over again, and she basically will say, see you. Bye-bye. Okay, so you can imagine, I can hear her voice in the other room. In our house, the laundry room is connected to the garage where we leave. So she always goes to that door. But me and my wife, we were kind of rummaging around the house, getting last minute things and, uh, we couldn't see her. So imagine she's in the laundry room ready to go, saying ready to go, ready to go. Me and my wife were in the kitchen grabbing, snacks for her, juice for her, just in case she doesn't like what we're going to eat. Because sometimes you get to the restaurant and she just won't eat anything and so we can't see her, and then All of a sudden, my daughter starts wailing. She starts screaming and starts fussing, and I'm like, we both look at each other, me and my wife. We're like, okay, something's going on. So we immediately run to the laundry room and. I could just see her, I'm looking at her. I could see her curly hair and her nice little bow on her head. Her pink sparkly shoes, and She's on her tiptoes, her tiny little fingers, and her hand is gripping the doorknob and she's trying with all her might to open the door but she couldn't. So if you can imagine a one and a half year old, maybe you have kids of your own that's super frustrated because she can't do something. this happens to us all the time, and that's when I heard it deep in my spirit. I just heard this still voice say this, this is what childlike faith looks like. I am Ronnie Baker, your favorite Olympic sprinter and Christian mentor discipling you on how to navigate your faith in your sport. Today's devotional is about something that's hard to grasp. The older you get childlike faith. As adults, especially as athletes, we wear strength like armor. We grind, we hustle, we get things done. But Jesus said in Matthew 18, three, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus spoke these words, and you may have an idea of what he means. This scripture is about becoming a dependent, but not just in the worldly sense and a spiritual sense. So let's talk about both. Here's the tension that we feel as adults. The Bible tells us to become like children, and that can be confusing as an adult who is busy, who has things they need to accomplish, emails to answer, a job, to work, a family to provide for. I mean, come on, the list is endless. Or if you're an athlete, you're used to getting things done. You're used to being efficient. You're used to moving heavy objects, used to being on time, jumping really far, running really fast. You have a rhythm about yourself that says, I've gotta get this done because I have other things I gotta do and I want to do. But when I think about my child and maybe you have children, I think about how she can't do anything without me. Literally anything. I don't know why that kind of dawned on me that day, but I was like, wow, She can't open any door without me. If she wants to leave and go somewhere, she has to ask me for help. If she wants to go outside and play, she has to ask me for help. She can't put on her shoes on her own. If she's hungry, she can't eat without me. I mean everything. You literally are keeping a little human alive when people tell you that. And also the cutest thing is when she tells me she's hungry, she says, hungry. Over and over again. But I realize is that she has complete and total dependence on someone else. It is a complete and total dependence, and that's how God wants us to be with him. He wants us to depend on him and trust him, that he's gonna give us what we need And this is what God loves. He wants this type of relationship with us. So what my daughter taught me, let's go back to the moment my daughter couldn't get the door open, and I like to say she didn't panic, but she hates not being able to do things on her own. She likes to open the doors on her own. She likes to try to put her shoes on by herself. Whenever we're eating and we're trying not to make a mess, sometimes we'll feed her, but she'll get angry and she'll ask for the fork. Or if we're holding the bowl with whatever food that she's going to eat that's in it, she's like down, she literally points to the, to the tray and she's like, down, down, down, down. cause she wants to do it on her own. Now she's gonna make a mess, which sometimes as a parent, you don't want to have to clean up a mess. But what I've learned as a parent is that you don't really get good at preventing methods. You get really good at cleaning them up. So, she just wants to do everything on her own and she gets frustrated when she can't do it. And I always think to myself, who, I wonder where she gets that from, right? Just like her dad. But when she was trying to get this door open, she eventually looked at me and she said, daddy, help her. This is how she asked for help. And she didn't have to second guess my willingness. She didn't assume I was too busy. She knew I would respond. Because that's what I've always done, and that's what our Heavenly Father does for us. He's there, he's waiting and he responds. Psalms 1 21 2 says, my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. When we come to him with our need, he doesn't roll his eyes. He leans in. Matthew seven 11 says, if you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask? So let's make the spiritual shift here, and this is what hit me. I usually go to God after my plan fails. I ask for help once I'm exhausted. that's the shift. It's not about effort, it's about order. Matthew five, three says, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We have to go to God first. how many times in our life do we take a step forward? Do we make a big decision, a big life decision without asking God first. Just like my daughter, she couldn't open the door until she asked for help. How can we be like that? How can we go to God first and ask him for help? To be poor in spirit means you come to God empty. You don't bring your accomplishments, you don't bring your accolades. You bring your need. Faith starts when pride ends. But remember how I quoted Matthew 18, three, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. And now Matthew five, three. From the Sermon on the mount, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, These two scriptures work hand in hand. What Jesus is saying here is yes, trust me with your physical words. Trust me with your job. Trust me with your emails, trust me with your career. Trust me with your sports. Trust me with your competitions. But spiritually, he's saying that without him, we are lost. Without him, we would be dead because of our sin he's telling us. Unless we become childlike and understand that we need him for salvation, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. That's weighty. That's heavy, but it's the truth. To be poor spirit means you come empty. You realize you're depravity because of your sinful nature, realizing you need a savior. Only by being desperately dependent on God can you become what he created you to be. So here's our practical application. Here's our challenge for today. So what is being childlike? What does having childlike faith, what does that look like in real life?'cause that's the real question. it's really awesome to have knowledge of the Bible, but it only is effective when you use it. You've gotta put it into practice. And that's why we have these challenges at the end of these devotionals. So just like my daughter has to ask before she can open a door. We should pray before we make a move. Before you make a big life decision, ask God for his advice. Invite him into the situation before you compete. Depend on his strength. Now, how many of us as parents know that just because our child asks for something, we don't always say yes. So be prepared for God to say not right now. See, typically when I say no to my daughter, it's because what she's asking for is not the right time for her to get, not the right time for her to do, or I'm protecting her from danger. She's unaware of, for instance, my daughter, she doesn't know what's on the other side of that door, but I do. And God knows what's ahead in your life too. So seek him before you make a decision in your life, and then after you seek him, when you make that decision, trust that you're making the right one. Trust that he can use your decision and turn it in again. Here's the one thing we have to fight against as athletes is feeling like we're lazy when we're seeking God and we're not taking action because seeking God sometimes requires a waiting period. It requires being still. It requires being silent. It requires waiting on the Holy Spirit. And I'm not saying that you're going to hear an audible voice speak to you, but. As an athlete, sometimes going to God in prayer can feel like you're not making progress'cause you're not physically doing something, so don't feel lazy because you're not taking action right away. Sometimes it's better to take all out action like you know you will. And do it on the right thing, then on the wrong thing and get nowhere. I know that we've all probably been in that situation. But in this moment, you're being dependent. You're exercising faith. You're not being lazy. So like my daughter, hands up, heart open, daddy helper, ask your father for help. So let me pray for you. God, I confess I've tried to do my life on my own strength. Forgive me. I want to come to you like a child, not because I'm weak but because you are strong. I trust you. Help me surrender. Just like a small child does teach me to depend on you for everything. Amen. You don't need to have it all together. You just need to bring it all to the father. That's childlike faith. If this encouraged you today, share it with another athlete who needs to hear this. And if you're still trying to figure out how to balance faith in your sport, I'm gonna let you know right now. You are not alone. Keep showing up. Keep trusting God. And remember, defeat is optional when your hope is in Christ. I'm Ronnie Baker and I'll see you in the next one.