As the doctor draped most of his face with the cloth, my son fearfully sobbed, “Mommy!”
I turned back toward the gurney, determined to face my fears and the blood that turned my stomach. In that moment, I knew I’d never leave my child alone even though I couldn’t handle seeing the doctor stitch up the cut profusely pouring blood down my little boy’s face.
“MOMMY,” he sobbed again, flailing against the restraints meant to keep his two-year-old body still long enough to stitch up the gash.
“Please uncover enough of his face so he can see us easily,” I asked. “He’s panicked enough with the restraints.”
The medical team complied. My husband quickly got into our son’s line of vision.
He looked toward me with one huge baby blue, the other hidden by the folds of the sterile cloth. By now, his head was probably pounding. After all, his head took the direct impact of the fall.
“We’re right here, buddy. We won’t leave you. Look at Daddy.” He turned his fear-filled face toward his dad.
I saw him relax for the first time since arriving at the emergency room. As my husband stood within our son’s single eye vision, near the medical team, I held his tiny hand off to the side.
Our son trusted that everything would be okay because his parents said so—even though he was afraid about what was happening.
Childlike trust is beautiful. It is carefree.
As parents, you and I experience this trust from our children each day. But when was the last time you exercised childlike trust?
Our Heavenly Father desires the same trust that our children extend to us.
The difference? Unlike you and me, he’s completely worthy of that trust. He will never violate that trust. He is the same yesterday as he is today as he will be tomorrow.
1 Peter 5: 7 says, “Let [the Father] have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.”
I love how Eugene Peterson paraphrases this same verse:
Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
Here are three things I learned
from my son:
- Just as our son relaxed in trust when he heard our voice over those of the medical team, so we learn to relax when we hear God’s voice.
- Just as our son calmed when he focused on his dad’s eyes, so we can live carefree before God when we gaze at his face instead of that which hinders what we can see.
- Just as our son clung to my hand, so we understand the strength of our heavenly Father when we cling to his hand.
What are you fighting against today that needs your Father’s intervention? How can you practice carefree, relaxed trust in your heavenly Father today? Click here to download 5 verses that help me remember to trust God.
Childlike, carefree trust. It’s a beautiful thing to experience each day.
If you need help, please reach out. I promise to listen without judgment and help you take the next step.
