March 17: Of Worry, of Safety, and of the Father’s House

Numbers 26:1-51

Luke 2:36-52

Psalm 60:1-12

Proverbs 11:15

I have three kids.  One of them is in college.  She is an exquisitely gifted composer and singer (if/when she reads this, I am going to get an angry text message at the very least…).  But she's a musician daughter of a father who wanted to be a musician but decided it would have been tough to put food on the table so he took management and math instead.  And he worries - I worry - about her.

Talk about worry, though - can you imagine the conversation Joseph and Mary must have had when they found out NEITHER of them had the child Jesus?  Can you imagine how frantic they must have been when they checked with their relatives and He wasn't with any of them?  This isn't like losing your kid at the supermarket, or picking him or her up late from school.  They "travelled FOR A DAY."  

Of course we know they find Him back in the temple.  And just as they are about to ground him for life, He asks them why they were worried, and wonders why they wouldn't know He would be in HIs Father's house.  Where, it goes unsaid, it is safe and He is meant to be. 

The Bible tells us Joseph and Mary didn't get it, so they may STILL have grounded Him.  But what Jesus said made me think.  He was in His Father's house.  He was with His Father.  So He was safe.  His parents didn't need to worry.  

I think about how I've tried to raise my kids, and I believe I've done the best I could.  But the truth is, I wish I'd realized this sooner: that if I want them to be safe and their futures secure, the best thing I could do for them is to have put them in their Father's house.  To introduce them to Him, to put them in His care.   Then, as Jesus told His earthly parents, I wouldn't have to worry.  

Father we lift our children into Your care.  Teach us to help them get to know You.  And keep them close.