Stages
I was watching my son in-law as he was standing and holding his new baby Sam the other night and couldn't help but be astounded at the comparison of this tiny little one in the arms of this great big daddy. Dad stands 6'5...and is a big guy and this baby looked like a tiny parcel tucked in crevice of dad's body.
And one day too, this baby will grow...and grow up to probably be just as tall as dad...but that is so hard to imagine looking at the stage that he is in now.
Life is just that...a line up of one stage after another...you can't skip around them...you have to go through them... some stages are easier than others and some stages are easier for others. But there seems to be little dodging any of them.
We who have been through previous stages can offer some guidance to those who are going through them now...but stages, even through they are similar in nature are very different according to personalities and strengths and weaknesses of each of us. And the one true helper for any of us ...at any stage of our life... is God himself. He knows the roads we will travel...and he knows the bumps and the obstacles that we will face and he is there to give us the strength, the motivation, and the insight...to make our vision one with HIs.
We all are infants in the arms of our majestic and magnificent God. He created us in His image and will carry us and grow us according to His purposes. He has allowed us through free will to set out and face His many stages of life...We have the choice to try to take it on alone and stagger through or we can gratefully and gracefully accept his hand of leadership and boldly and confidently approach each stage one at a time.
Life is not easy and the stages that we grow through as infants...on to toddlers, to preschoolers and to adolescents and onto to adults (I know I skipped a few) is a personal journey of transformation. I remember thinking as a older teenager...that when I am adult it will be easy becasue then I will get to boss people around.
When we arrive at that adult stage we find it is not so easy....for any of us. We all still have challenges...and personal goals have taken on more of a strategic mindset, relationships are more complicated and pronounced, and added responsibilities seem to push us into a restricted mode of dependence. But as I have grown older I realize that that dependence, if shifted to God and removed from self..is actually a freedom. The adult stage is when God really gets going on compiling all the stages that we have managed thus far and he is nudging us and encouraging us grow us up and embrace those lessons. Hard to do at any age becasue I am not so good at letting go of my personal agenda. ..even at my age.(no numbers here) But when I am able to comply with God;s way of doing things...I do have a peace in spite of what others are doing around me. Growing up is hard top do....but it is a worthy effort to strive for...for when we allow God the opportunity to manage our moves...we are also giving God the glory that he alone deserves. The harder the trial...the greater His glory if we let Him orchestrate our path.
In Numbers 33, God records the stages of Moses...he also records our stages as well.
I look not only at Jamie and Blake and their little family of four (Blake Jr. is 4) and it is easy to look back and remember my husband and I and bringing up four children. Life changes so significantly when you now are the responsible ones for other little lives.
And oh what a blessing and a responsibility God has trusted us with. For children no matter how old they will always be your children....but it is an awesome joy to see your children raising their own children....especially if they are doing it under the umbrella of a loving God. But we must remember that no matter how much we adore them...they are only on loan...from their true Heavenly Father above. He has allowed us the priviledge of loving them and raising them but one day He will bring them back to their rightful place in his Heavenly kingdom....as royal children of an everlasting king. For that is who we who believe in his son Jesus' name are.
I thank God each day that even though the stages that any of may be tackling are hard...that he is faithful to be beside us and guide us through them. For he is a big God who cradles us in His loving arms...but then grows us up and sends us out into this world to bring his Kingdom down to this earth. Hard ti imagine this tiny little baby one day having such a huge responsibility but God expects that out of all of us, one stage at a time.
Dear Lord, Thank you for the blessing of children...for they remind us of the stages that you crawl us through. May we take the lessons that we have learned along the way and embrace them and faithfully use them in our everyday life. Amen
Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation he has allowed you to be in...for His glory will shine through!
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