Our Wandering Hearts + God’s Incredible Grace

Lately my toddler has become quite opinionated and independent. She wants things her way, no matter how much I try to convince her otherwise. She is becoming a strong, independent little lady, and it’s fun to watch her grow up into her own little person! Lately we’ve had a lot of laughs as we’ve been having to resort to reverse psychology to get her to eat more at mealtimes.

My husband: “Haven, eat another bite of food.”
Haven: “Noooo!”
My husband: “Ok, don’t eat any more food then, Haven.”
Haven: “YESSS!” (then she takes a bite)
My husband and I: (trying to hide our faces as we can’t stop laughing)

She’s also wanted to dress herself more. Yesterday, she wanted to wear two bow hair clips in her hair. Then she decided she wanted to wear her pink jacket-a jacket she hasn’t worn in months. All day I tried to get her to take it off (it’s summer in Houston after all!), but she absolutely refused, even when she went outside and played in the heat.

Not too long after putting on her jacket, she grabbed a pair of sneakers she hasn’t worn in months. And then, right before dinner, she grabbed my son’s old helmet and insisted on wearing it around the house. She looked so adorable! Here’s a picture of the little outfit she assembled. (By the way, in the picture below, that is a *dull* kid knife that she wanted to hold since it was almost dinner time. Don’t worry: she doesn’t usually walk around holding a knife!)

As I watch Haven have her own will and strongly desire to do things her own way, I think how we as Christ followers can sometimes do the same thing in our faith walk. We aren’t much different, are we?

We know what God’s Word says, but we don’t always obey it.

We know what God has led us to do, but we don’t always follow him.

We know what the Lord has revealed to us in prayer, but we don’t always listen.

But oh, how very grateful I am for the grace of God! While I try to be patient and loving towards my little tot when she’s being assertive, the patience and love the Father shows me are infinitely greater than I can even imagine!

As I’ve reflected on our wandering hearts and God’s incredible grace, one of my favorite hymns comes to mind: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” written by Robert Robinson. (If you aren’t familiar with this hymn, you can check out some modern versions of it on YouTube. It’s beautiful!!) 

The third stanza says this:

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee:
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.

https://hymnary.org/text/come_thou_fount_of_every_blessing

Friend, let these words be the cry of our hearts, too. When we don’t obey God’s Word, when we go our own way, when we don’t listen to him-let us come to God humbly admitting our sin. Yes, we mess up daily. Yes, we act like toddlers sometimes (at least I do!).

We absolutely need God’s grace and forgiveness when we fall short, and we also need his help to come back to him. So today, ask God to bind your heart to him. That way, when you begin wandering, you are quickly guided back by his goodness, grace, love, and mercy.

Pressing on in faith, Jennifer