“There are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.” – Anne Lamott

What’s not to love about a baby 😊 

Their innocence nature and their human fragility have a way of drawing us to them.  It seems to be an instinctual part of us – our desire to hold and comfort a crying baby, to meet its needs, and to care for it in ways it cannot care for itself.

Babies are entirely reliant on their parents and family for survival.  A baby wouldn’t live very long at all without food, shelter, and someone attending to its health, safety, and overall wellbeing.  It can do nothing on its own – 100% dependent on loving family members and friends for its continued existence.

When you think about it deeper, a baby has no awareness to all the things happening within its environment that are supporting and sustaining its life.  They are oblivious to the constant love and attention – unconscious and insentient to all the nurturing and effort around ensuring its survival.

It cries when its uncomfortable – not able to even understand the reasons behind its discomfort.  It feels pain or stress of any kind and the shrieks, the screams and the bawling ensue!  Babies rely on their Mom or Dad to assess the situation – making determinations on what to do next. 

Is the temperature of the bottle too hot or too cold?  Should we put another blanket around them as they sleep?  Does the slight fever require a doctor’s visit?  Why won’t they eat?  Are they getting ENOUGH food?  When is the last time their diaper was changed? Is it an air bubble that’s stuck or do they have a stomachache that’s something more serious?  Colicky or just fussy?  Hungry or just tired?

All the while, it remains unaware of what is happening in the background to ensure it can survive another day.

As I was thinking about this detailed attention given to babies who are oblivious to it, I began to wonder if we too are the recipients of a nurturing love that is happening continually behind the scenes of our own lives?  As “children” of the Most High God, are there things occurring RIGHT NOW in our lives meant to sustain, support, and guide us – things we cannot see or have the ability to connect with in the moment?  Like a baby, are we unconscious to all the activity surrounding us that is lovingly meant for our wellbeing and survival?

“Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He, I am He who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” – Isaiah 46:4 NIV

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” – Isaiah 66:13 NIV

“I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight.” – Isaiah 45:2 KJV21

Take time today to contemplate the depth of this – a God who is daily and actively caring for us in ways we cannot relate to or thoroughly understand.

It really is a provisional care that’s unfathomable! 

Think about the basics of it – a sustained heartbeat, cells that regenerate, daily bread and shelter.  All our senses and the creation behind them, allowing us to touch, taste, see, and feel – to experience life.  Like a baby that simply opens its mouth to be fed, we are ignorant to all that is required to sustain us.  Still, it is happening this VERY MINUTE as you read this.

Think about the events of life within the context of an unconscious, nurturing love that is centered within each of them as they unfold.  We don’t understand the loss or the accident and the timing or allowance behind it.  We cry over the severed relationship.  We fuss about the hardship or the circumstances that don’t fit with our own dreams and desires.  Like a baby who is being fed a spoonful of pureed green beans, we get cranky and grimace about things that are truly meant for our good in the long run.  We act as if we have been abandoned in our crib, but just like Mom, God’s eyes are closely watching over us and His ears are attentive to our cries.

There is a deeper, nurturing love that we cannot see or understand behind each event, situation and circumstance my friend 😊   Like the oblivious baby, we are being cared for, loved, and protected in a way that is too vast and beyond our capability to embrace or grasp.  Our journey is being guided and directed more than we realize.  It’s never just a coincidence or a streak of good luck – a bad break or a devastating turn of fate.

Not only are babies unaware of the intricate detail behind their care, they also don’t analyze or worry about the outcome.  They don’t wonder, “When will this wet diaper of mine be changed?  I wonder if I will be fed enough today?  Will someone come and hold me if I need their comfort tonight?”

In the same way, we need to trust our Father will lovingly provide all we need to fulfill our destiny.  His timing and His ways are perfect.  No need to fret or worry 😊.

We are constantly being guided, especially when we feel lost.  Our needs are being met, even when we feel lack.  Good is unfolding in what seems bad and hurtful on the surface.  We may be unconscious about it all, but the nurturing love never ceases my friend 😊

Rest in this thought tonight, realizing there is more to the story than you can see or possibly comprehend.

“God is ALWAYS doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” – John Piper

“There is nothing you could do to ever increase or decrease God’s love for you.  There are, however, things you can do to increase or decrease your AWARENESS of it.” – Pete Holmes