Summary: Amber shares how God used her son to show her an incredible lesson about trust.
Article:
My youngest son Braxton is about a year and a half, and has been climbing up the stairs before he could walk. My husband taught him a few months ago how to go down the stairs and now he is an old pro at it. But often, if I am there with him and I start to go down, he wants me to carry him. He stands there with his little arms outstretched and grunts. Since I am usually already down a few steps I will reach out my arms to him and say come. Then that trusting little guy, with no hesitation, will simply fall forward into my arms. Practically every time he does so I say to him, Boy, you sure do trust your mommy. And every time I say that I hear the spirit of God say to me, I wish my children all trusted me like that. Wow. Powerful words God.
So what is missing here? How is Braxton able to trust me so easily, without fear or reservation, yet it is hard for us to trust God? The answer: Braxton knows how much I love him. Simple as that. Why cant we trust God? The answer: We dont know how much He loves us.
In 1 John 4:18 it says: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. To Braxton, my love is perfect. He knows how much I love him and I would never do anything to hurt him, so he can fully trust me with no fear. Now what if this little guy started doubting my love? He would think about what would happen if I didnt catch him and all the pain it could cause him to fall down the flight of steps. Not knowing my love for him could keep him from trusting me. He might decide to just crawl down the steps himself.
That would be a slap in the face to me! I would be heartbroken to think that my son didnt trust me. Doesnt he know how much I love him? I would never do anything to hurt him, and I would put my own life at risk to make sure he wouldnt fall! Bingo. Now we know how God feels! He loves us infinitely more than we are ever able to love anyone. Jesus didnt just risk His life because He loved us, but He actually GAVE His life for us all. When we can grasp how good Jesus is, how much He loves us and what He did for us at the cross; worry and fear will go out the window and will be replaced with gratitude, trust, and confidence.
Now please dont feel condemned. There is no condemnation in Christ. We all need to get a better grasp of Gods love.
I encourage you to get in the word daily and read about the love God has for us. His word is His love letter to us. I also encourage you to pray daily for revelation of this love like Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:17-19: that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
I love that my son can trust me with his life; it is a beautiful reminder to me that if he can trust me that much, then I can trust my loving heavenly Father because He loves me more than I could ever imagine.
