The Kingdom of Heaven is like a baby. From the moment of conception, she grows and develops, in the order and pattern set for her. She is born and draws her first breath. She is driven to eat, be held, kick her legs, roll, sit up, rock, crawl, then walk.
Jesus taught through parables in the Bible, and if it’s good enough for Him then it’s good enough for me.
This is the parable I have been thinking about for the past 15 months. I watch my beautiful daughter daily and marvel at whatever engine God has put in her. She continues to grow and develop as long as I don’t hinder her. She is driven by an unseen force to take leaps and bounds. I remember the first time I felt her flutter inside me and knew that she was growing even though I didn’t know how to grow her. The ultrasound showed her movements before I could even feel them.
She lifted her enormously heavy head because she wanted to, rolled over the moment she could, skootched and pulled to reach a toy. I remember the day she decided no matter how many times she fell, she was done crawling. She would only walk from now on.
She hollers for silverware so that she can learn to feed herself. She knows when it’s her time to learn and demands that she be allowed. She tells us “side!” when she wants to go outside to play in the grass and mulch, “boo” when she wants a book, and details the features on her face and mine with sticky fingers, clumsy words, and joyous victory.
Doesn’t this remind you of how the Kingdom of Heaven grows inside of us? We can look back and understand the order of development, but we know that someone else programmed it and provided it and that we would be powerless without it.
My part in my child’s physical development has been more like discipleship than developmental therapy. I encourage and supply her with the things I know she needs to develop in the way God designed her. I gave her the things I needed. Food, a safe environment, and a chance to make mistakes. I gave her tummy time and sat her up a little longer each week so that she could work her muscles. I spoke to her so that she could learn to speak. I have watched her fail and fail again and noticed the tiny improvements and the days when everything seemed hopeless.
She grunts and rages when she is on the verge of a breakthrough. Before she learned to roll over there was lots of frustration. It has been the same with all my kids. The house comes to a screeching halt (pun intended) as we try to figure out “What is wrong with this child?” We checked for a fever, a bruise, new teeth, and a wet diaper but still they fussed. Then miraculously the next day they crawled or finally communicated something to us.
We are the same way. God put something in us that longs to grow and become more and more holy. We get sick of the last progress we made and struggle for more. We ask God again and again and sometimes feel hopeless because we will never get past “that sin.” We wait on God impatiently and only after He has performed the miraculous in our lives do we see His pattern and absolute skill and power.
I have waited for spiritual gifts to grow long past the point that I think they should be fully developed. I write and write and still make the same grammar mistakes and typos. I criticize instead of commiserating. I learn about my gift of exhortation and then use it incorrectly, but He is so faithful that this process cannot fail. He can’t fail. I just need to study the Word and stay close to my Savior while He develops what needs developing.
If I stop eating, my development and my survival will be severely threatened. If I eat the wrong things who knows what may grow? Without tummy time I will take longer to learn to lift my head. If no one puts me on the ground, I will not learn to creep toward the toy that is just out of reach. I need sustenance and challenge to develop, just like my children do.
We must read the Bible and spend time with our Creator! We must step out and serve God in those moments when we don’t know how yet! These are the only things we know to do to encourage the Kingdom of Heaven that God has put within us.
The growth and development are all on God. He supplies all the power, energy, and order.
*Quick disclaimer! I have suffered a miscarriage and have friends and family who have lost precious babies and have fought valiantly for their children who developed differently than in this order or timeframe. Jesus loves those families and children, and they don’t represent anything but the unbridled love and joy of their Creator. When Jesus speaks about good soil in a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven, He is not really speaking against the hard-packed path where seeds can’t take root. His beautiful feet walked those paths between towns to do the will of God. It’s just a metaphor! *
Subscribe below to have new posts sent directly to your email!