The other day I was sitting on the floor playing with my daughter. We were singing nursery rhymes when she became really silly and just let herself go and fell backward. She was standing very close to me and trusted me enough to know that I would catch her. I was terrified because I did not expect her to let herself fall backward but my mother’s instinct kicked in before I could even process what was actually happening and she fell right into my arms. She giggled because she knew I would catch her and trusted me enough to just let go.

I sat there in shock, trying to regain my breath and thought about her level of trust in me. He trust in me truly made me feel challenged in my own trust in God. I wondered why I couldn’t have the same trust in my Heavenly Father.

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

After watching my 18 month old daughter fearlessly allow herself to fall right into my arms, I understood this verse all too well. I cannot begin to express just how many times the Lord has challenged me to let go and allow Him to guide me into the perfect peace He has for me. Most times I chose to try to fix things on my own out of the tremendous fear I have of allowing myself to freefall into Gods arms. You see society’s philosophy on life is very contrary to that of the Lords. We are taught that our level of attainment and achievement solely lies in the amount of effort we put into it and in order to be happy you must attain much. We have deviated from being God driven and have become self driven. Now I am in agreement that we all must work hard for the things we want in life, but as Christians we trust and believe that God has a divine plan for our life and is the Author and Finisher of it. I do believe that when we seek Him first and freefall into His arms, He does indeed give us the desires of our hearts because He says this in Psalms.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

I believe that Gods desire is to sync our hearts with his own, our life plan with His own plan for us. So in essence when we trust in Him with our whole hearts, our desires truly become His own. However, it isn’t until we freefall into His arms and trust that He will in fact catch us, can we actually begin to trust Him on a level that allows us to partake in the perfect plan He has for our lives. You see the Bible assures us that God is not man that He should lie, therefore we don’t have to worry IF he will catch us or not because just as I caught my daughter, a parent doesn’t think twice about catching their child, they just do it! Once you begin to allow Him to catch you, your faith will be strengthened and the trust you develop will be unshakeable.

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. Psalm 125:1

So take inventory on your life. Have you free fallen lately? What in your life is God prompting you to let go of and allow Him to take control of? Take inventory and let go to let God.

Becoming a mother has transformed my life in many ways. One of the more profound ways has been a transformation of my view of God. Being a mom has given me a greater appreciation for the love God has shown us. The Bible provides us with so many examples and verses where God is depicted as a Father to us. Someone who loved and knew us before we even came into existence or before our eyes saw the light of day.Psalm 139:13-17 tell us…

  For you created my inmost being;
  you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
       How vast is the sum of them!

I can remember being just a few weeks pregnant and my doctor told me he thought I was having a miscarriage. The sorrow that over flooded my heart was indescribable. Although I felt no different than I ever had physically and had only known I was pregnant for just a week or so, the idea that MY child was in danger brought me incredible sadness. The instant overpowering desire to protect this unborn child was overwhelming and the knowledge that there was nothing I could do to protect her, devastating. You see, the love a parent has for a child is instant. There is no falling in or out of love with your child, rather it is a bond, an undying loyalty to protect that child that is innate. My daughter is 15 months old now and chronically sick. I can’t begin to describe the countless nights that I have been up all night, holding and comforting my sick little girl. When she calls, I am there ready to hear and comfort her because she is mine. In the same regard, you have been called by name and have been set apart…

Psalm 4:3

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
       the LORD will hear when I call to him.

Just like a mom with her child, the Lord our God has given us the opportunity to be called His children. He has called us by name and said, come to me and I will accept you, call on me and I will hear you. He is there to hear you at 3am when you call out to Him and is there to comfort you when your heart is heavy. I know firsthand that we aren’t all born into perfect families with perfect parents, but know that God is THE perfect Father. One who will never turn his head away from you when you call out to him, but has loved you before you were born and has a plan for you that transcends this earth and continues on into eternity.

The Bible did not say God was like a Brother or God was like Cousin… No, the Bible purposefully says that God is our Father in Heaven who is here to tend to our every hurt and be a balm to every wound this life has brought to us. Know today that regardless of what has transpired in your life, God knew you before you were born and is waiting to hold you in his arms and listen to the burdens of your heart.