Seeing God As A Parent

Being a parent is hard.  I'm discovering over time that no matter how old your kids are, you never stop wanting to help them, guide them, parent them as best you can.  

Your relationship with them might change as they grow into adulthood, but your love for them, your desire for them to succeed never wavers.  

And sometimes you wish that you could just live their lives for them, even though you know you can't.  

I've learned so much about my relationship with God as I struggle through parenthood.  I try to teach my kids things that matter.  I try to keep them from making big mistakes, but when they do make mistakes, I try to be there for them to soften their landing when they fall.  

Recently, I read a quote that struck me, and it has been sitting in the back of my mind ever since:   "Our problem is that we want to test God rather than trust him."  

I probably test God a whole more than I would like to admit.  I also can make a real mess of things when I try to wrestle the future out of God's hands and take it upon myself.  

Once, when Jesus was teaching his followers about not trying to take their future into their own hands and to simply trust God, he said: 

"Look at the birds in the air.  They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them.  And you know that you are worth much more than the birds."  (Matthew 6:25-26)

I wonder sometimes if God wishes that God could just live my life for me.  But like a parent, God knows that there are some things I need to learn on my own.  I may need to make some mistakes, or experience loss, failure, tragedy and tribulation because then and only then am I able to finally admit that I can't make it through life without God.  

Additionally, I need to turn to God because I am convinced that I can trust God, lean on God and that I need God more than I need anything.  God doesn't coerce love from us.  God doesn't force us to follow his Son, Jesus Christ.  

God's desire is for us to finally turn to him and say, in the words of that old hymn, "I need you every hour, every hour I need you..."  

May you discover a deeper relationship today and every day with the One who wants the very best and brightest for you.  May you feel the very hands of God lifting you up from the low moments of your life, setting your feet on solid ground.  May you realize the strength to reach out to God and admit how much you need God.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.