God's Baby Steps

Did you ever wonder why God puts you in the same situations over and over again? 

The little cynic inside of me makes snarky little comments like "Oh, He just like to irritate you." or "God's got a weird sense of humor- remember the platypus? He did that to mess with Darwin. Maybe He's just messing with you too!"

After stifling the little instigator with duct tape, I started really thinking about this. Why would God have us deal with something over and over again? Even if the workplace is different, the people are different, and the setting is different, it boils down to the same old situation, cropping up like weeds in the garden of our lives.

We keep plucking those suckers out, and they keep coming back! Is God really just messing with us? Or is He doing something we just can't see yet?

So I decided not to look forward, but look back. The past is an amazing thing. Hindsight is always 20/20, and sometimes we can see things we wouldn't normally notice. Like certain situations cropping up repeatedly.

To God, we are babies. Really small, itty-bitty babies. We need His help every single day of our lives. As parents, we help our babies to walk, talk, eat, and get out of diapers before they graduate. God does the same thing with us.

Take walking for instance. We hold on to our babies hands until they are ready to let go. 
They let go. 
They fall. 
They get up and try again. 
They let go. 
They fall. 
They get up and try again.

Sound familiar? 

Our children do it with our help until they can stand and walk on their own. Then we help them with the next step- trying to get them to sit still and pay attention! But I digress.

God keeps putting us in the same situations sometimes to help us learn how to deal with things His way, not ours. Sometimes we learn, sometimes we fall and decide crawling is just plain old better than walking anyway. But God makes us get to our feet and grab His fingers to try again. And again. 
Until we get it right.

Just like any good father would.

I'm sure I give God grief sometimes for being stubborn and crawling when He wants me walking. That's why I get stuck sometimes. He wants me to learn to do it His way- the right way- instead of my way. Then when I get it right and start walking, I'm following in His footsteps.

I'm just glad He's patient and helps me up when I need it!

God's baby steps aren't always easy to execute. The steps aren't going where I think they should go sometimes. But God guides me when I get lost, and puts up barriers over and over again until I go the way He wants.

God is my Father and knows what's best for me- even if I don't know where we're going yet. And that's okay. I'll just take His fingers, stand on His feet and walk where He does- until I can walk right out of that situation!