MIRROR IMAGE by Paula Roten

Two of my grandchildren changed schools this year. One of them had a very hard time with it. He's the one who hates change. When he went to registration to see his new school for the first time, I asked him how it was. He replied, "Horrible." When I pressed him for reasons it was so bad, he responded with answers like the school mascot was dumb, the school was in the shape of an X, and the gym wasn't as big as his old school. I thought I would encourage him with what I'd learned from Ann Voskamp, so I suggested that sometimes we have to look for the good. Surely there was ONE good thing he saw that day. Nope, he couldn't think of one good thing. He was miserable and wanted to wallow in that misery. 

At first, I was amused by how silly his rationale was. But then I realized that he resembled someone I knew. I wish I could say it was his grandfather, but no...it's me. I thought about him and how he has no control over where he is going to school. His parents had made that decision for him. They checked out the school's reputation with other parents; they checked out the test scores; they prayed about it. How many times have I felt as though I had no control over a curve ball life has thrown at me? I've come up with every line I can think of as to why this situation is horrible, forgetting God is the one in control, not me. And, lovingly, He has checked everything out. He knows the bigger picture. He has my best interest in mind. I know that because of Proverbs 2:8 - "For he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones."

I thought, "Why can't this child just trust his parents? He knows they love him like crazy!" But then God reminded me, "Why can't you just trust Me? You know I love you like crazy too!" According to Jeremiah 31:3, God loves me "with an ever-lasting love." It's because of His great love for me that I can "trust in the Lord with all (my) heart and lean not on (my) own understanding." Proverbs 3:5 

Change. It's an inevitability of life. I saw first-hand how my temper tantrums look to God. How He must feel when I don't trust Him. So I repented and then looked to His Word and prayed it right back to Him:

• When I am afraid, I will trust in you. Psalm 56:3
• I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. Psalm 57:1
• Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26
• And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. Romans 8:28

And another thing. I prayed those scriptures and more for my grandchild. I asked God to help him learn to trust not only his parents, but his Heavenly Father, too.