Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good. Romans 8:28
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7
LEARN
Let me preface this blog post by saying you never know how much you can learn from a two year old! You think they are supposed to learn from you, and ideally they do, but boy oh boy can they teach you a lot about life too! I nannied for three years in college, and one summer I lived with the family I nannied for. I could probably write a whole blog post about all the things that sweet toddler taught me that summer, but instead I wanted to share how reading books with her taught me a little more about the heart of Jesus.
Here are some things I’ve noticed about reading books with a two year old. First of all, they rarely want to stay on the page you are supposed to be reading and would rather go back to previous pages, or jump ahead to future pages. Sometimes, when they try to “help” you turn the page, they take a big handful of pages and practically skip to the end of the book. They also want to read the story over and over, sometimes even pretending they have no idea what’s going to happen on the next page, when you know they already have it memorized!
Finally, you definitely cannot ignore the insane amount of times a two year old asks the question “Why?” when reading a simple picture book. Why did she do that? Why did he say that? Why are they wearing that? Why is it yellow? Why is it big, small, short, tall? You name it, they ask it! However, something I found to be particularly interesting is the fact that oftentimes they ask why about all the tiny details that have no relevance to the story. I’ve noticed that these irrelevant whys can lead them to miss the whole point of the story. One night in particular, when I will admit I got a little tired of all the whys, I realized this is likely very similar to the way God feels. In this moment I became overly aware of how many times I ask God why.
First let me pause to say I do not think God gets tired of us asking why the way we might get tired of a two year old asking why. I do not believe He gets annoyed with us, but instead honors our curiosity and our desire to understand and experience Him on a deeper level. He truly wants us to know Him, so I am confident He welcomes any opportunity to commune with us and respond to our questions, worries, fears, doubts, etc.
Therefore, I do not believe I am wrong for constantly wanting to ask God why things happen the way they do (both the good and bad things). Rather, I think the short, beautiful moments I spent reading with my tiny roommate began to open my eyes to the way Jesus wants me to live. When a two year old can’t get over the color of the mommy’s dress three pages back, or the size of the dog’s ears two pages ahead, I sit there and feel slightly frustrated, wishing she would understand what the story is trying to teach her (or at least let me stay on the right page long enough to finish reading all the words).
Maybe, just maybe, this is how Jesus feels about me, about all of us. Maybe He wants us to know that if we just stay on today’s page, the here and now, we will start to see the full picture of His movement in our lives. He doesn’t want us to stay stuck a few pages back in our story when He is ready to unveil the future pages He has prepared for us. Likewise, He doesn’t want us to skip so far into the future that we miss out on everything He has to offer in the day-to-day (which always seems to be a whole lot more than I expect… He definitely never fails to exceed all of my expectations!).
I know God has already written my story. He placed me in this world to fulfill a unique purpose crafted perfectly for me, just as I am certain He has done the same for you. However, when I obsess over all the whys and beg Him to reveal the reason and meaning behind everything that happens in my life, He probably sighs a little bit. Not because He is disappointed in me, but because He so desperately wants me to see what He sees. He wants me to be free to live in the moment, confidently acknowledging His sovereignty over my past, present, and future. Something tells me the answers are right there in front of me, and that maybe I’m asking why about all the insignificant details. Meanwhile, Jesus is so excited for me to fully embrace what He has in store for me today, right now.
KNOW
God sees you right where you are, just as you are. He sees your past and your future, but He has placed you in your present for a reason, to glorify Him. We are called only to trust and follow – trust the Lord to turn the pages when it is time and follow Him with confidence that He will work all things together for your good.
DO
Meditate on the scripture verses above. Spend time in the word, prayerfully asking God to reveal His trustworthiness to you.
Can you think of a time when you may have gotten ahead of God rather than staying present in the things He was calling you to? What was that like? How were you able to center yourself back toward the present moment with Him?
Commit to spending 5 minutes before bed each night this week to reflect on where God was in your life that day, helping remind you of His presence and movement in your present moment.
