What do you see when you look at the cute little face of a baby?
Maybe this is your world right now. Perhaps that face reminds you of sleepless nights, mum guilt (or dad guilt!), the relentless desire to just have some time for yourself or an adult conversation.
For the grandparents among us, perhaps it’s a complicated combo of wonderful joy mixed with the weariness of being “presumed upon” as the reliable babysitter.
For others, it’s hard to avoid the deep sense of longing and heartache of wanting to have a family of our own but for whatever reason God’s answer, for now at least, is “no”.
My eldest son Jack turns 11 this weekend. So when I look at a baby, there’s a strong sense of just how quickly those years flashed by. Being in the midst of it felt so hard and tiring. But looking back - they were such golden years. I just want to tell everyone - I know it’s hard, but treasure those early years with your kids!
So what does God see in the face of a baby?
God has so much to teach us about himself through what he has made. Creation is a visible expression of God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:20). The Bible is like God’s instruction manual, showing us what the beautiful things he’s made teach us about himself.
And God has so much to teach us through precious little children. So I just wanted to share a couple of things God’s been teaching me this week using the image of a child:
Firstly, at Belonging this week we explored how Jesus wants his church to be growing in maturity in him. In Ephesians 4, we see we’re not to remain as infants, or we’ll be blown back and forth by deceptive teachings. Instead, speaking the truth in love to one another, we’re to build one another up until we reach “fullness in Christ.”
And yet someone helpfully asked - “but what about when Jesus says we must become like little children, or we won’t enter God’s kingdom. Are we to be infants or not?” See in another sense, the mature Christian is still to be like a child. We’re to have childlike trust in our heavenly Dad. To be content in him.
Psalm 131 beautifully shows what maturity as a child of God looks like:
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
May we be a church that is mature in our child-like trust and contentment in Jesus.
Yours in Christ,
Andy.