Use your words God

“I cannot carry all these people by myself: the burden is too heavy for me.” Numbers 11:14 NIV

I have learned some significant spiritual lessons through our kids. Patience, for example, is a gift of the spirit and I think I have grown in that area due to having kids. Praying for patience is not something I would recommend doing unless you are ready to constantly be placed in situations that give you an opportunity to be patient, or not.

I think my stance on many things has softened over the years, mostly due to my kids teaching me that not very many things are as big of a deal as I once thought them to be. One area that has been seen growth over the years has been communication.

On the one hand our daughters have literally never ran out of words. One of my favorite things to do is just drive with Aly. She will usually just start talking and I tell myself she would talk to me about nearly anything. I hope that is true. She is about to give birth to her own daughter and still does not run out of words, and I love it.

The opposite exists with Korbin. He is functionally low in verbal skills but he can recite movies in more than one language. At times he can really struggle with needing to tell us something. “Use your words Korbin” is repeated countless times in our house. I do not understand why either extreme exists, but I think I have learned a little about my communication with God in this journey.

Mary and I have now spent 18 years with our son and sometimes neither of us can figure out what he is trying to tell us. He will once in a while drop a complete sentence out of thin air and we jump when he does. But most of the time we have to work at it. If you want to connect with him, it requires time and quiet. If I lean into him long enough and often enough, I can better understand his wavelength. If I short him on either, I struggle to understand him or he struggles with allowing me to.

In my own relationship with God the same thing occurs. I want Him to use His words, and sometimes I think He does. But most of the time He wants me to lean in and be quiet so I can better align with His wavelength.

I do not often struggle with the “Why?” very often, but when I do, time and quiet help. We have had struggle and victory. We have also had defeat. People struggle. As I get older, I think I may notice more than I used to.

One such struggle has occurred in the last few weeks. A few months ago, I got a random phone message about someone wanting to look at a house. Perfect. A baby was on the way which makes it even more fun. Long story short, they bought a house and had a baby.

Problems surfaced. Emergencies surfaced. Specialists were in other cities, so baby and parents went where they were told. Let’s call him baby “T”. Man when a baby is struggling hearts get ripped open faster. I don’t even know what all the issues were, but fluid was a definite problem, like way too much of it. To be honest things didn’t sound too great. Prayer chains began as soon as he was born.

Yes, there were doctors who specialize in areas. So, the medical miracle I now have a picture of can be somewhat explained, but not all of it. The before and after picture of T look like different humans. I think a 12 or 13 pound baby turned into an 8 pound baby. You can see his eyes. You should see his eyes. They are beautiful.

During this process I noticed that my reading in scripture intensified. My lean into God intensified. My quiet intensified. The words I needed to help me align were in the same book that helped me align with every struggle I have ever turned to it through. Without a “random” phone call, I never would have met them. Now, I think I am learning lessons through their kid instead of just my own.

Do you consult God for solutions? I know people who say they consult with God on nearly every decision. I honestly don’t see how that happens because God uses silence and time so effectively.

Do you carry the burdens of people in your life? If not, how do you do that? Baby T has me wrapped around his formerly fat little finger and I have never been in the same room with him.

Challenge: I think we are supposed to carry each other’s burdens. Not solve, carry. Realizing God can handle our fear. He can handle our anger. He can handle our questions. I ask God to use His words all the time. Sometimes He does. Sometimes He doesn’t. He owes me no explanations. I do owe Him alignment.

Rick Claiborn