Growing pains aren't just for kids as I have found out recently. As we grow older, as our life situations change, as we come closer to knowing who we are in Christ come all kinds of 'growing pains'.
I remember when I was a kid, and had growing pains in my legs, my Mum used to give me a long red sock which when I put it on seemed to relieve the pain. The pains were excruciating and only ever at night, this long red sock was my healer, my comfort, my redeemer and release from this pain.
As I walk through life now as a full fledged parent and adult (however did that happen?) I still suffer from growing pains, but they are now mainly in my heart, rather than my legs.
All of a sudden I am the proud owner of two teenage daughters, and being as I was once a teenage daughter myself I am well aware of all the dangers the world holds for them. The world has become a more complicated place since I was a teen, there are so many more ways to get into grief with the golden age of technology upon us. And, nobody told me that your children leave home at age 11, I thought it was 18 at least and that I would have time for much more fun with them. But no, the minute they go off to secondary school and you are no longer waiting at the school gate for them is the day they leave home. With that comes a multitude of concerns and fears, you don’t know where they are at all times and it's no longer easy to protect them from making mistakes; and watching your children making mistakes is heartbreaking. There are many days when I feel totally out of my depth. Where's the red sock when you need it?
I know it's not entirely Biblical, but Jesus is now my red sock, the best red sock there is going. He is my healer, my comfort, my redeemer and release from all pain.
He loves me and He loves my children even more than I do (although I struggle to understand how that could be possible!). I trust him to always be watching over my girls, keeping them on the straight and narrow. And with that I have to learn to trust that I have done a good job equipping them for the next challenges that they are going to face in their lives and in turn trust them to make the right choices and pray that their choices are good ones.
Direct your children onto the right path ,and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6
And in the meantime, in the red sock moments, I turn to Jesus with my worries and fears. Because Jesus is the SOCK, the SOCK of my salvation!
