The other day, my husband and I were admiring an image of our sleeping baby on a screen. It was the picture of pure innocence and unadulterated hope. We congratulated ourselves on combining our genetic material so well and creating such an adorable baby (we’re a little biased), then said goodnight and my husband quickly fell asleep, as he is wont to do. Meanwhile I grasped that late-night me-time on my phone (I admit that it’s probably less-than-healthy and I should probably work to let go of, but that’s another blog post).
A little while later, I looked over at my sleeping husband: worn, tired, but still with an innocence about him that brought to mind our son, as he slept peacefully. It was like there was a part of him that never changed. I was moved to tears realising that he still bears a sliver of the innocence of his youth, the same innocence that he carried into the world, though decades have added stress and burdens and years of toil. My heart broke for him, for the struggles and sorrows he has had to endure over the years, yet knowing that all these experiences shaped him into the man I love, the man who stands over our family today.
I was brought to the thought that God sees us as His children, always. We never lose that quality. As a parent, He loves us. If you’re familiar with Aquinas, he beautifully defines love as willing the good of the other, so we know He wants the absolute best for us. And the path to what is best may not be easy. We may face obstacles and run into setbacks; we may have to bear burdens and stress, and there may be a demand for toil.
Even in the hardest of times, we know God is in control, and that He is unchanging and eternal, and His demands are borne of love, for God is Love, and there is nothing in Him that is contrary to Love. Sometimes love can be hard, difficult to endure, it may cause us pain or suffering, and we may not understand the reasoning behind love’s demands in the moment (we may not even understand the reasoning with hindsight), but that does not make love any less good.
Our response to this Fatherly love depends on the disposition of our hearts. An analogy I heard a while ago to help understand this is that of different materials subjected to the same force, for example, wax and clay under intense heat – one would soften or melt while the other would dry up and harden. If our hearts are disposed to follow our loving Father who sometimes asks hard things of us, we would do our best to obey Him. If, however, we are more focused on our Earthly desires, we can be tempted to feed those temporal desires instead, at the cost of straying from God, and it may be more difficult to follow His will for us.
So, when God asks you to do hard things, turn your heart towards Him. Instead of adopting a “why me?” attitude, let’s take up a “help me” attitude. It is important to always keep in mind that God is our loving Father. Know that He knows you and loves you, and He has a plan for you! Stick with Him and trust that in these experiences, “…we are the clay, and [He is] our potter; we are all the work of [His] hand” (Isaiah 64:8), and that through them, we are being moulded – He is helping us change and grow. Look for how these experiences can make you more like Him. Our loving Father has got you! He’ll bring you through it. Remember, “all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Are there times you find it more difficult to trust in God? How do you get by when the going gets tough? What do you think or do to help you grow in trust of our heavenly Father? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
Mom Things Through Christ 