I cradled my recently turned 1-year-old in my arms. He snuggled in, sleepy and content to be held.
Looking into his big blue eyes, I couldn’t help but marvel at his willingness to rest in trust.
You see, this little boy has recently learned to walk. Now he walks everywhere. He loves his new freedom.
He walks and walks, stops to play, then walks some more. I jokingly say, “He has no time to sit still. He’s got to move!”
He is also beginning to understand words and communicates by pointing, nodding, and saying, “more, more.”
I’ve started referring to him as a toddler rather than a baby.
Yet in that moment, as I sang him a lullaby, he seemed so much like a baby. His simple peaceful trust that I would take care of him was worth marveling at.
As I took a step toward his crib, his eyes shifted to the ceiling. He watched calmly as I carried him past the light and a door frame.
He let me lower him onto his back in the crib.
There was no fear, no fight for control in his gaze as he studied my face.
As I headed back downstairs, I found myself imagining my response if someone were to carry me.
My stomach clenched at the thought of feeling so utterly out-of-control when being carried on my back, unable to look anywhere but at the ceiling. The anxiety that would grab at me if I couldn’t control where I was going or even adjust for better balance would be near overwhelming.
My little one doesn’t always rest so peacefully. He is currently in a phase of clinging to mommy. Only a handful of people have gained enough trust for him to rest in their arms.
Even in his babylike trust, who is holding him is the key.
What about me? Do I have that babylike trust in God my Father? Or have I become so accustomed to independence and having a sense of control that I refuse to rest in His arms?
In this area, I need to go backwards in development, back to that childlike dependence on my Heavenly Father.
This is not easy.
When I feel out of control, I want to fight for all I am worth to get that control back.
Yet I am never truly in control in the first place regardless of how I might feel. I cannot control the weather, how other people think and act, or many aspects of my health.
God is in control.
Not only is He in control now, but He sees the big picture. He knows what the future holds and He is interested in more than just my temporary pleasure for today.
Along with that, knowing God is loving and good is reason enough for me to seek to rest in His arms.
At all times, but especially when I feel out of control and helpless, may I lean into His loving arms and rest peacefully there.
Isaiah reminds me that God carries His children. Having just discussed how people worshipping false gods in that day literally carried their gods, Isaiah stated:
“Listen to Me, … you whom I have upheld since your birth,
and have carried since you were born.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am He, I am He who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Isaiah 46:3-4 NIV
Experiencing peaceful rest in God’s arms is not necessarily a lack of action, but a heart condition.
On the outside, sometimes resting in His arms will be sitting and waiting. Sometimes it will be active and hard work.
Regardless, may I learn to rest my heart in His arms, trusting that He is good, loving, and in control.
As I close, I encourage you to take a moment to listen to this well-loved hymn: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.
