Like a Child
Maybe you’re feeling like I have been lately — overwhelmed with anxiety for the responsibility you just don’t feel strong enough to carry. Maybe others, even weaker than you, rely on you - and that weight is heavy.
I can’t say I have all the answers. But I can say that I know who does. He also happens to know your situation intimately and sees the agony of your soul. And even greater than that: He cares and is able to help.
I was lying in bed the other night, my mind racing, my heart aching, my soul searching for peace and rest. And my mind flashed to what I once was: a little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl still shielded from much of the evils of the world and completely reliant on my parents for every need. And in that dependence, I was safe — because I had parents who I could trust, who had my best interest at heart, and who were much stronger and capable than I was!
Then it dawned on me that I’m not much different than that little girl I once was. I still recognize my inabilities to carry those things that are too heavy — those things that I was never really meant to pick up. No matter how old I am or what responsibilities I gain as I grow, I will always have a Father in heaven on whom I must trust for my ultimate security and hope. Others may rely on my commitment to proper stewardship to the responsibilities God gives, but my ability stops where only God’s power can go. I cannot stop every bad thing from happening. I cannot stop death. Only God can do that — and He has.
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage…Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18).
Jesus Christ was God, manifested in flesh. He took on a human nature to identify with us in our great need, and to give us a way out of the hopelessness of death. It is impossible to try to find a way out of sin and the corruption and pain it causes apart from Him.
This is why Jesus reminded us that only in Him — not in our own efforts — is rest:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
To God, we are always to be as children, completely dependent upon Him for each breath and for His ongoing strength, protection, and faith to trust Him more. As Jesus explained so clearly: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4).
The kingdom of Heaven is both still to come and also within all who trust and believe in Jesus Christ. It is the place of other-worldly, supernatural peace — even as we live amid the troubles of this cursed earth. When we look to God as our heavenly Father who longs to care for us, the weight of this world and the responsibilities we carry get a little lighter. Because we come to know Him more and more as the One who has promised to never leave us or forsake us, and the One who promised to one day restore all things. All that is now broken will be fixed. All that is old will become new. And all that is good, but temporary, will become eternal.
For now, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). But in that faith, we can see more clearly past worry and fear, and rest in the arms of our loving, faithful Creator.