When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. I Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
In South Texas we’ve experienced years of drought—until this year. And now we have an abundance of rain, so much so that our aquifer here is filling, and we are having a reprieve from years of rationing water. Which reminds me of the years when my children were small…
As a preschooler my son Christopher had a little yellow, plastic, inflatable boat. It was just the right size for him to crawl into, lie down, and float. In those days Christopher stayed on the lookout for rains, showers, any precipitation that would bring enough water to flow down our street. When those happy events occurred, out came the yellow boat. We’d go outside to the curb where I would launch Christopher and his boat down the quiet residential street, and he would gleefully float to the end of the block where we would pick up the little vessel, retrace our route, and begin again. This was the height of childhood fun until…
Christopher got bigger and older. The little yellow boat didn’t hold him any longer, and floating down the street no longer interested him although he had a habit of saying, “Mom, I will always…” Christopher was convinced as a young person that his interests would stay the same, that life for him would be static.
As young Christians, sometimes even more mature ones, we think various activities and life styles, ministries, interests, and vocations will always be the same. Then God starts to rock our boat; circumstances shift; relationships end; life brings about transitions. Nothing stays the same. But we worry that God will take things from us, and so we cling to what we know forgetting that as we change, the old and the familiar lose their charm. Essentially, we grow up. And as we grow, we can trust God to bring what is needed for this new phase.
Corrie ten Boom said we should hold all things loosely lest God has to pry them from our hands. Don’t be afraid of letting go, of giving things up, of making sacrifices. God always has something better.
Father, give us courage to trust you through every phase of life knowing that you always intend everything for our good and your glory. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.
agodforeveryday 