Hands in the Way
She has a good excuse: she’s only five weeks old. Today my little darling, Sadie, has been filling our lives with adventure, mystery, and insomnia for exactly five weeks. She’s also still filling diapers by the truckload, but that’s another story. Hard to believe, isn’t it?
Five week-olds can get away with anything. They can cry as loud as they want to in any situation with no regard for social appropriateness or embarrassment. They can change clothes a dozen times a day and have no worries about water bills or excessive laundry piles. They can poop at their pleasure and for the most part, be praised for it! Oh yeah, I’d say she’s got it made.
One of the most fascinating features of my little precious one is her active little limbs. Since day one, Sadie has been flopping around her little arms and legs with reckless abandon. Even her pediatrician was surprised at the feverish flurry of her phalanges. Now, I know that research tells us that she isn’t yet aware of her own hands and feet, but I beg to differ.
Apparently, Sadie is quite the little helper. Every time I go to feed her her bottle, she insists on “assisting” me in the process by trying to help me get the bottle in her mouth. However, the awkwardness of her limited coordination just makes the whole thing a very amusing mess—and the more hungry she is, the more she tries to “help.” Thus, the very thing that she is so desperate to attain, a full tummy, is foiled by her own attempts to take control of the situation.
Now I’m no weakling (again, eye rolls to a minimum,) but Sadie can create quite the obstacle to feeding time. Little hands and elbows flailing about, sometimes Mommy and Daddy tag-team the operation with one holding back the hands and keeping the burp cloth in place while the other takes aim at the mouth with the bottle. Once the bottle is in place, the hands seems to lose their desire to aid the parentals and feeding can commence.
Sure, she can’t understand what I’m saying to her, but that certainly doesn’t keep me from talking to her incessantly. At that intense moment that her crying is escalating and I can’t get seem to get past her “kung fu” defensive maneuvers, I try to reason with her. ”Come on darling, don’t fight me. Move your hands, baby.” For some reason, my words seem to fall on deaf ears. At that moment, her needs override her understanding. Her efforts hurt her own cause.
How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise. Proverbs 1: 22-23 (NLT)
This verse somewhat reminds me of the reflections of a frustrated father. ”How long will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you hate knowledge?” Again, Sadie has a great excuse: she’s not even six-weeks old yet, but for most of us who read this passage, we have no such excuse.
Sadie, as the “apple” of my eye, hasn’t fallen far from the tree. I cannot begin to recall the innumerable times that I sense myself inadvertently fighting against wisdom and blocking the very things I desire the most. My incessant desire to succeed causes my pride to get in the way of God’s timing. My impatience with other people creates frustration and robs me of the love God would so willingly fill my life with. I want the right things, I just want them now. I want to take control!
Occasionally, I hear the gentle voice of the Father: “How long will you be simpleminded? How long will you fight against my wisdom?” In other words, “Move your hands, Son! I’m trying to help you, but you’re getting in the way.”
Ah but the day is fast approaching (too fast, if you ask me) that my little darling will recognize more than the tone of her daddy’s voice. She will actually understand what I’m saying. She’ll also have deliberate control of her limbs and will know when she’s helping and when she’s hindering. That day is coming for her for purely chronological reasons. She’ll simply grow up.
But chronological growth and spiritual growth are two very different things. Concerning the things of God, getting older doesn’t mean that we necessarily get wiser. Perpetual childhood is the condition of many believers, but it doesn’t have to be that way. For myself, may the day be fast approaching where I will no longer function as a “simpleton.” May it be today!
I love the end of the verse: “I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.” Wow, what a statement from a Father who desires to lovingly teach his children, revealing another key truth about wisdom: it begins when we understand the heart of the Father. As a new daddy, it’s a heart I’m beginning to comprehend more each day.
“How long” for Sadie? Just a few more months.
”How long” for you and I? I suppose that is up to us.
