I had the opportunity to have my two granddaughters stay with us for about a week. It was a blessing for Mhel and me, but also challenging. Here are some of my reflections after spending time with my granddaughters, aged one and four.
The first realisation I had was that I was really getting old. It was not too long ago that my two daughters were around the same age, but I can no longer do the things I used to do. I get exhausted quickly and struggle to cope with their high energy levels. Spending a week with them was great, but more than that, I would raise the white flag and surrender – I can’t do these anymore!
My more profound realisation was the great love I feel for my granddaughters. I want the best for them.
However, during the week with them, there were times when they needed discipline, correction, guidance, and instruction, in addition to care, support, and spending quality time with them. With the best for them in mind,
I cannot give them all they want and follow all their whims and caprices. There were times of discipline.
Sometimes they needed to trust us, even if they did not understand what we were doing. They needed guidance and instruction to grow as mature adults later in life. Everything was not smooth sailing for them because we wanted the best for them, even at their young age.
God calls us to trust Him in every season of life
God is the same with me. I know He loves me so magnanimously that He sent His Son to die for me. But I have not figured out everything in my life yet, and I don’t think I ever will.
I need to trust God now, even if I do not know what will happen next. As I enter my later years and battle sickness, God teaches me to trust Him. I tend to figure everything out for myself, but God wants me to sit at His feet and wait for His next instruction. I need to be humble before Him and be patient. Sometimes I need correction and discipline.
As a good and loving Father, I must always be attuned with Him. I need to remind myself that God knows what is best for me at different moments in my life, and I need to listen and have faith in Him. He has never abandoned me; now is not the time He will. God’s track record of His faithfulness, love, forgiveness, and grace demands my response of faith, love, and reliance on Him.
Like my granddaughters relating with me, I need God to lead me on. God knows what is best for me, even if I have a different opinion. He formed me in my mother’s womb and knows my past, present, and future. I need to be like a sheep listening to the voice of my Shepherd.
His ways are not my ways, nor are His thoughts the same as mine.
He will lead me to greener pastures. I need discipline when I go astray. He can see the entire field, but I cannot. I must follow where He leads. God is the best Father whom I can ever have.
Top image credit: AI generated biblical illustration from Psalm 23 depicting Jesus the Good Shepherd guiding and protecting his sheep, from Biblepics.co. Image free to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The Good Shepherd guides and protects his sheep, ai generated illustration from biblepics.co.
Tom Caballes is a National Coordinator of the Lamb of God, a community of the Sword of the Spirit with seven branches located throughout New Zealand. Tom and his wife Mhel and their two daughters [with his son-in-law and grand-daughter] live in Wellington, New Zealand.