The Danger of Growing Up

“Lord, we trust you with our eternities, why can't we trust you with our lives?”

This is the prayer that my resident assistant prayed in our meeting. My thoughts began to drift. Why? Why do I trust God for something so great yet not for something so small? I trust Him to care for me for time unending but not for just a few short years.

We start out our Christian life just like a child. We take God at His every word. We trust Him. We are so sure of Him. Just like a little baby may walk right into a pool, we would take that step of faith off the cliff knowing God will help us soar.

But then, we grow up.

You have more fear of danger now than you did as a child. You may be afraid of roller coasters, of flips on a trampoline, of drowning in the ocean, of safety while traveling. When you were younger, the thought of being hurt may have never crossed your mind. Just like this, we are more scared now than at the beginning of our Christian walk. At first, we are excited; now, we are anxious. Instead of growing up God's way, we grow comfortable in our Christian walk. We become spiritually sure of ourselves. We think we know enough to decide on our own future. We think we know better than God. And when things don't go exactly our way or we don't know what is going on, we are scared of His plan.

But why? God is the same God now as He was in the beginning, as He was when He saved you! Malachi 3:6a says, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” And we know that God thinks the best for us (Jeremiah 29:11). So why do we fear? Why trust God to save you from the biggest danger of your life but doubt Him in the small things? Where did the saving faith go? I encourage you to grow up spiritually, but let God be your Abba Father. Still trust Him with that child-like faith that brought you to Him in the first place.