No greater assurance

How often in life do we look for assurance? Assurance that the new job we are contemplating is right for our family. Assurance that we are doing all we can to properly prepare our children for life. Assurance that their precious self-esteem isn’t being crushed by a few well-deserved swats on the behind.

Assurance is a valuable commodity in the world of parenting. But our world isn’t always certain. Sometimes it’s not even rational. Is that sought after assurance even possible? Or are we chasing after the wind. Looking to calm our fears and ease our conscience. Clinging to a fleeting hope that we’re doing a good job, doing everything right.

It takes a rational mother about 10 minutes to admit she is helpless to do it alone. The simple act of putting baby to breast is proof enough that without the help of a handful of experienced mothers and The Great Almighty, we are lost. We alone are insufficient.

Of course we’ll spend the next 18 years telling those same babes that “Moms know everything. Moms can see it all.” But that’s just a rouge. A farce. An attempt to keep our kids in line and convince ourselves that we’re up to the task.

So how do we survive when our limits are tested? When our patience is pushed? When the path becomes treacherous, and we’re no longer sure how this hand we’ve been dealt is going to play out? How do we gather our strength and move on?

“I lift my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

See, we were never expected to know all, to see all, or to do it all. We weren’t created to be super humans or super moms. That’s something we worked up all on our own.

Our assurance comes not from how many tasks we can accomplish in a 24-hour period. Not from how well we can provide for the worldly needs of our family. Not from how well we are able to explain to our children the unexplainable whys of this world.

Our assurance comes from knowing that we are all created, guarded, and guided by a Maker who does not slumber or sleep. A Guardian who will not let our foot slip. One who watches over us and keeps us from all harm.

One who is powerful enough to know every thought in our mind, every secret of our heart—yet, He loves us anyway. What greater assurance could we need? What greater comfort when our paths become rocky or the way seems uncertain, than to know that God has our back.

“He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Kinda makes that perpetual mountain of laundry seem surmountable, doesn’t it?

And that’s All in a day’s work!