I’ve been thinking lately about how a baby has to 100% rely other people to take care of them.
They have to trust that they will not be dropped, bumped, or hurt
They have to trust that they will get fed regularly
They have trust they will be changed and bathed
They have to trust that they will be kept in a safe environment
They have to trust that they’ll be fed food and drink that isn’t harmful to them
They have to trust that they won’t be given or placed in proximity to objects that could hurt them
They have to trust that they will be kept appropriately warm or cool
Their entire existence depends on the care of their parent(s) or guardian.
And when I say trust I know that babies can’t cognitively trust. But you know what I mean.
As I was thinking about this and how completely incredible it is, it also made me think of our relationship to God. It’s actually similar in a lot of ways (or it should be at least).
We honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to us next.
We have to depend on him to care for us – our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs
We have to trust that he will make sure that we get everything we need
We have to trust that even though we go through refining and pruning, he won’t hurt us
We have to trust that he will care for us as tenderly and attentively as we care for our children (more actually)
It’s hard to think this way as adults raised with the mindset that we have to take care of everything ourselves. Yes, we do have personal responsibility. But do we rely too much on ourselves? Do we go too far with the personal responsibility and stop short of trusting the Lord?
Probably.
There’s a reason why we’re told to have child-like faith. And just as a baby looks to his or her parent to fully care for them, so we should look to our Heavenly Father to fully care for us. We are not left to our small, helpless selves to make it in life. We have a parent who we can fully trust to provide the very best care possible if we let him.
