As Newborn Infants.....

           These past few days, God has been working in my heart, and showing me some deep-rooted issues that I need to change. He is so patient and gentle with me, as He deals with the sin in my heart, but it is painful to realize just how sinful I really am. At the same time, I am so glad that He shows me things in my life that need to change so that I can become more like Him.

          This morning I read 1 Peter 2: 1-3: “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

           Having had five children, I could really relate to the word picture of a newborn infant desiring milk! Our first child nursed about every four hours as a newborn, but I soon learned that that was pretty unusual. In the first weeks of their lives, most of our other children nursed very often – sometimes every hour! I sometimes struggled to know why it seemed like they were nursing constantly, until I found out that a newborn baby's stomach is the size of a cherry!! No wonder they seemed to be constantly hungry!

           

         
           Our desire for the Word of God should be like a newborn baby's longing for milk. In order to get rid of ugly sins in our lives – things like malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander – we need to have a steady, constant diet of God's word. Just like it's not enough for a newborn to eat three meals a day, it's not enough for me to read God's word once in a day, and then forget about it. I need to continually be reminded of His words, His truth. Some days I might need to read a verse every hour or two, to keep my mind focused on God – to keep my heart filled with truth. Just as a newborn infant needs to eat every hour or two, to keep its tiny stomach filled.

Beautiful: "My Hands are His"

        I have been privileged to have some very beautiful women in my life. Many of these women have gone through very difficult things as they have journeyed through life. I have watched them walk through these things with grace and a steadfast trust in God. And as they have surrendered their lives to Him, they become radiantly beautiful. I'd like to share some of their stories here, so here's the first one.

        “I'm glad you can play this song, since I'm not able to do it,” she said to me after the practice.

        She plays piano beautifully, but because her hands have been affected by arthritis, she's not able to reach the octaves anymore.

        “I'm just glad that I can play by ear, so that I can just fill in with other notes when I can't reach some of them,” she continued. As she spoke I wondered if it had been hard for her to accept this.

        “Has this been hard for you?” I asked, “has it been hard to not be able to play piano like you used to?”

        She smiled softly as she answered simply, “My hands are His.”

        I nodded, not sure exactly how to respond, but I thought about that a lot the following week. “My hands are His.” Yes. I belong to Jesus. What He chooses to use me for should not be a concern to me. I am simply a vessel in His hands. If He asks me to be a stay at home mom, than I should rejoice in that calling and privilege. If He calls me to work in a dangerous place, I should not worry. I am His and He is more than able to protect me, wherever He calls me to be. If He asks me to lay in a hospital bed, and be an example of joy in a difficult situation, I am His, and I should trust Him in that difficulty. If He asks me to serve in a seemingly small, unnoticed place, I should do it with all my heart, because I am His.  Whatever my situation, I must learn to trust that God can use me in the way that He knows is best. I think I often struggle with thinking that I know how God wants to use me and I know what things I feel passionately about, and how I can best serve Him. But if He asks me to serve Him in a way that I don't expect, or to bring glory to Him through a difficult situations, I should be eager to serve Him in the way that He asks me to.

        I see today. God sees the whole picture. I can trust Him to place me just where He wants me to be to fulfill His purposes for my life. I can trust Him to use whatever difficulty He might bring into my life to bring glory to Himself. I am His. My life is His. Lord, use me as You see fit.