LORD,
my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 131
I love this one. It is so short and yet full of such wisdom.
A child in the process of weaning is discontented, whiny and irritable. I can behave similarly in the midst of trial and difficulty....discontented, whiny and irritable because I am not getting what I want. What is helpful for me to remember is that even though God isn’t giving me what I want, He does give me what I need, Himself. Our help, our comfort and our hope come from our God. A weaned child no longer comes to you fretting, gesturing and demanding to be satisfied but cuddles and rests quietly against you. A weaned child’s comfort is no longer his mother’s milk but the mother herself. Likewise, the Lord sometimes takes away our dearest delights to train us to trust Him to supply our needs as weaned children trust their mothers to supply theirs. Spurgeon speaks to this so well.
“Blessed are those afflictions which subdue our affections, which wean us from self sufficiency, which educate us into Christian manliness, which teach us to love God not merely when he comforts us, but even when he tries us”....and I will add...even when He takes away our dearest delight.
As mothers understand, a weaning child can't figure out why he must make the unpleasant transition from milk to solid food, and he doesn't want to figure it out. He just trusts that you know the way that he takes and will get him where he needs to go. Our Father in Heaven has given us such a beautiful picture here of what it means to abide and surrender. Let Him hold you....let Him direct your steps...He's got it figured out...trust Him. Abide. Wait on Him.
