My Children Need Jesus / Everyday Stewardship

I am struck by the contrast between this post and the previous post by my friend, Teresa Keogh. All the children of the world need to be loved. NOW.

Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools, 
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

Isaiah 35: 4-7a

I remember being a child when just the invasion of a frightening thought could send me running into my parents’ bed for safety. One night it is was the movie I watched on television before I went to bed. Another night it was the sudden thought of what if someone I loved suddenly died. Whatever the reason for fear, the closeness of my mother or father could easily make all things better. I felt completely secure.

As I got older, I began to realize that my parents couldn’t protect me from everything. That was okay because most of what I feared as a child now seemed, well, childish. Later in my life, my own children would seek the comfortable confines of their parents’ bed, and I would remember those youthful days once again.

I cannot, just like my parents before me, offer much to calm the fears of my children other than give them love. However, I can lead them to the one who has the power to truly defeat anything or anyone that seeks to harm them. He can help them see when they are blind, teach them to speak when they are speechless, and help them walk again after they have fallen. Of course, His name is Jesus.

I wish I could do all those things for them, because my love is so overwhelming for them. But my job is to lead them to the One who can do all these things. He has entrusted them to me and I am called to return them to Him. That’s what a good steward would do. When they are young, they can easily feel like my love is enough. But when they are older, they will need the One whose love is truly enough, because it is not merely human, it is miraculous.