Purposeful

I lay in bed last night thinking about babies. Sweet, soft, cuddly babies. With squishy cheeks and warm bodies. Swaddled tightly and gazing at us to know us, smell us, learn about the people meeting their every need. They say by the time an infant is born, it already knows it's mother's voice. It's already comforted by the sweet sound of a voice.

They are born so dependent on us...to change their diaper, feed them, cuddle them, love them, change their clothes...and then to do it all over again. Day and night.

I was thinking about how strange it would be if they were born already knowing these things. If they were born and then suddenly the next day they went off to kindergarten ready to learn. They would skip the dependency stage...And we would skip the bonding stage. Knowing their sweet smell, their kisses, their hugs.

Wouldn't it be weird to not have to take care of them day and night? To suddenly send off our child to kindergarten without knowing them? Knowing how they smell, what they love, what they hate, their favorite food, their favorite toy. Can you imagine not knowing your child in such a way? Like a stranger living in your home.

It got me thinking that without dependence on us, we wouldn't know them. Who they really were. And it got me thinking that without our dependence on God, we wouldn't know Him. Isn't that what He wants from us? Our depending on Him for our deepest needs, wants, desires, comfort, love? Without depending on Him, we can't bond with Him. He would be a stranger to us. It would be like walking in a desert...or a kindergarten classroom for the first time...alone and afraid, wanting so badly to be comforted but the comfort we have known is not there. With the world facing us head on. What if we never returned to Him at the end of the day like we return to our parents after the school day? It would be lonely...and scary.

God had a purpose when He created babies...so dependent and needing their parents. God intends us to bond with our babies through caring for them and meeting their needs. And God had purpose when He created us to depend on Him. Without our dependence on Him, we can't bond with Him and allow Him to meet our needs...when we're feeling alone, or afraid, or inadequate.

Our dependence on Him isn't always easy. It's easier to depend on ourselves, or man, to meet our needs. But once I think about a baby, and how they have no choice but to depend, and how I want my baby to depend on me and trust me to meet their needs, it makes it easier to realize how much God loves me and wants me to depend on Him.

Ahhh, babies...where would we be without them??