Recently, my 4-year-old has been having trouble at daycare drop-off. He has a great time every day and often cries that he doesn’t want to go home at the end of the day. But no matter the day and the preparation we try, he cries and clings at drop-off, which breaks my mama’s heart.
My husband recently put it into perspective for me, however, that changed how I approached what I thought was an attitude problem.
“We’re the people he wants to be with the most in the world. His mom and dad. He only wants to hang out with US.”
That stopped me in my tracks and redirected my heart to love him in those clingy moments.
A few days later, I was reading Alicia Britt Chole’s book, Anonymous: Jesus’ Hidden Years and Yours. In a chapter of reflection, she writes, in reference to her children, “We are their greatest fans, and for the moment, they aren’t looking for any others. We are enough. How nice it is to be enough. I wonder if, in my own life, God feels like I believe He is enough.” (p. 46-47)
THEN (are we sensing a pattern here?) I find myself in Psalm 8:2:
“Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”
He wants us to be childlike in our reliance on Him.
Here’s what I think God was trying to pattern in my life to show me, and you.
He wants us to be childlike in our reliance on Him.
God often uses the weak to show His strength, it is the children who are welcome into His presence:
“You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.” Psalm 18:27 (NIV)
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27 (NIV)
The NKJV of Psalm 8:2 says, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength.”
Is there anything more vulnerable than a nursing infant? Yet, that is what God decides to use to show His strength.
To be childlike in our relationship with Him. Only desiring to be in HIS presence. Valuing Him above all else, relying on Him for our strength, our direction, and our wonder.
Needing His love and grace more than any validation we could get from the world.
Needing His love and grace more than any validation we could get from the world.
He wants us to cling to Him and admit our desperate need for Him. That vulnerable place, the Psalmist tells us, is where he gets his strength, and whereby we find our joy, and thus, our strength.
My son does not question if I am enough for him. I have provided safety and love from the day I knew of his life in my womb. Do I see God in the same way? Is He really enough for me?
In some ways, the way we coo over a newborn and their delicacy, God delights in our frailty, knowing that He has come to show us that He is mighty to save.
Zephaniah 3:17 says:
“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
We are God’s children.
The way that we delight in children, He delights in us.
The way that a mother’s hug can calm an anxious child, He can quiet us with His love.
The way that children sing and worship without abandon, He deserves our whole heart.
We are His children, and it is in our need for Him that we find our true strength.
Author Info
Tory Vore
Tory Vore is a writer, communicator, and small group leader with a passion for discipleship and the local church. She writes about motherhood, womanhood, and friendship, with God and others. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband James and two children. You can read more of her occasional writing at toryvore.com.