End of the Innocence

For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).  But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).  1 Corinthians 13:9-10

Being 42 years old now and a little wiser, the more I realize that I simply do not have all of the answers to life.  This is a far cry from my attitude of being a childish and immature teenager, where I was convinced that I knew everything, much to my parents’ amusement.  

I can now see these same tendencies both of our boys, Elliott who recently turned nine in June and Elijah who recently celebrated his sixth birthday a few days ago.  We have multiple disagreements about our favorite comic book characters and he doesn't realize that I just may know a little more than some of the boys in his circle of friends, especially when it comes to the Marvel and DC Universe.  (After all, I am still a comic book nerd and not ashamed to admit it!)

We must change our attitudes and thinking from believing that we know it all, to trusting God  and living with unanswered questions.

No matter where we are in our walk of faith, God will continue to lead us and in doing so, He requires us to fix our eyes on Him, and follow Him one step at a time.

Wait For You

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  (Psalm 37:5)

 

 

The more I mature in my faith, the more I understand that God's ways are not my ways and sometimes I must wait before He sends His blessings.  Elijah is quickly approaching his 2nd birthday in August, and looking back at how fast time has flown by made me acknowledge the season of waiting I was in for the better part of last year.  Five months into this year, and I am now in a much different season, but I learned a valuable lesson in learning to trust God fully and completely while patiently waiting for God's many blessings. 

 

 

When we refuse to trust God with our needs, we will continue to live in panic, chaos, and fear because we do not cry out to the One who can meet our needs.  Jesus' disciples learned to trust Him on the Sea of Galilee during a frightening storm that had each one convinced that they would not survive.  Jesus walked across the water and commanded the storm to be still and the sea quickly became calm again.

 

 If you do not trust the Lord, then who do you trust?  Jesus is waiting with His arms outstretched for you and will lift you up despite the tempestuous circumstances you may find yourself facing.

Open Arms

God is not the author of confusion but of peace.  (1 Corinthians 14:33)

The family and I went for a swim the other afternoon to cool off from a hot summer's day in Knoxville.  Elijah, our youngest son, is 11 months old, so he requires either me or Alicia to hold him whenever we enter the pool.  One of our good friends held him for a few moments that same afternoon, and his expression quickly changed from a smile into a look of dismay as he was confused as to why neither Alicia and I were holding him any longer.

You see, when one of us holds Elijah, he knows us and has absolute and complete trust in us.  As a baby, he has a total sense of security in his parent’s arms and he is at peace.  When someone new holds Elijah, he quickly becomes agitated and fussy because he doesn’t have the same peace in the arms of one of his parents. 

Just like a child trusts his/her parents, trusting God is also at the heart of our peace.

If we have an opinion about God that breaks down our trust of Him, we may feel anxious or become confused.  When we trust God with every fabric of our being; knowing that He is good all of the time, we can be at peace with our loving Father. 

Oh My God

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  O my God, I trust in You.  (Psalm 25:1-2)


Our son, Elliott, has followed in the steps of my dorkiness by getting into the realm of pretty much any and every 80s based cartoon and movie that I loved: super-heroes, Star-Wars, Transformers, GI Joe, Voltron, etc.  Regardless of my extensive knowledge about the various characters and story lines that I have enjoyed since my youth, Elliott sometimes questions me because he has heard something different from one of his buddies at school.  Keep in mind, we are talking about three and four year-olds here....

We are all called by God to trust Him alone to meet our needs.  God's only requirement is that in addition to trusting Him fully and completely, we are also to obey Him.  We are foolish to ever think that our ways are better than the Good Lord's and I can't possibly recall the many times in my life where I listened to myself and failed to be obedient. 

We must trust completely that He is good and His timing is always right and that things will be done according to His will.  It's when we fail to trust Him and do it our way that things fall apart.