Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Because you chose the Most High as your dwelling place, no evil will fall upon you, and no affliction will approach your tent, for He will command His angels to protect you in all your ways. – Psalm 91:9-11 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your words are wonderful, I know that full well.-Psalm 139:14 

At The Birth of Darrien

 Today I beheld a Miracle;
I was humbled, I was awed.
When at the birth of Darrien
I glimpsed the face of God.
His very presence filled the room,
His love filled every heart.
As angles hovered lovingly
And urged new life to start.
Then came the sacred moment,
I was so privileged to share,
When the crying of an infant
Fulfilled an ancient prayer.

Today I beheld the love of God
In its purest form.
He renewed His sacred vow to man
As Darrien was born.
That His love is unconditional,
That life will never end,
That He reaffirms His faith in us
With each new life that He sends.

Today my whole world shifted;
My perceptions rearranged.
As with the birth of Darrien
My entire life was changed.
For today I beheld a miracle,
I was humbled, I was awed.
And as I watched my child, hold her child
I glimpsed the face of God.
©Linda Troxell, 10/25/1999

Change even desired change, can be frightening. Our bodies cannot tell the difference between stress caused by excitement and that caused by fear. So, it follows that if we find change uncomfortable, it will, whether desirable or undesirable, be very difficult. As humans, we tend to like things predictable. It helps us to keep up the illusion that we are in control.

When things are changing, nothing is predictable. Consequently, we feel as if we’ve lost control when, in truth, we have never had control. This explains why the degree of our contentment and satisfaction with our lives is correlated with either the degree to which we can accept that we are in control, or the degree to which we are comfortable giving up control to God.

Whenever God brings change to our lives, once we let go and accept His will, we usually find that the change was in our best interest. Most of the time, in the end, we are even happy for the change.  We know God is in charge regardless of our ability to let go. We know we can trust God to work out every situation in the best interest of everyone involved.

Psalms 91:11 tells us that God has angels whom He can send to protect us. So why is it that we can’t let go until forced? It seems it is because, contrary to all evidence of God’s superior ability to manage our lives, we, as humans, still need to feel in control.

When my daughter gave birth for the first time I was a bit apprehensive. I was very happy for her, and I was excited about becoming a grandma. But there were a few things that had me worried. I knew that my role in this project, while in some ways very important, was essentially minimal. The important players here were the mom, the dad and, of course, the baby.

That, consequently, brought up the feeling that, in some fundamental way my life would soon be altered. I couldn’t help feeling that having a child of her own would somehow make me less relevant in my daughter’s life; I felt I was being demoted. And finally, I was a teeny tiny bit concerned about my feelings for my soon to be born grandson.

Don’t misunderstand, I knew I would love him, cherish him and protect him with my life. I just could not picture myself as one of those gushing and, let’s face it, slightly obnoxious grandparents with the pictures and the stories for days. Yet, I was worried that I would be expected to behave that way. In a nutshell, I desired this change and yet, because I felt absolutely out of control, it still made me anxious.

Two things saved me from allowing those insane worries to ruin one of the most important, spiritual experiences of my life. First was the awareness that I had no control in this situation; the baby was coming ready or not. This freed me to turn all of my concerns over to God. And second, once things got started I was so busy and involved I had no time to be anxious.

As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. It was a magical miraculous experience. Because I knew I had no control over, nor responsibility for, how or when this child came into this world, I felt no pressure to “do it right”, that left me free to serve my purpose of attending to the mom.

From that first moment that I beheld the miracle of my child holding her newborn son, my heart has never been the same. Ezekiel 36:26 says: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” And He did. In that moment I felt my heart expand; it became bigger and kinder; it became gentler and it filled with love.

The first time I looked into the face of my grandson I beheld the face of God and I knew full well He had fearfully and wonderfully made this perfect child.-Psalm 139:14. And I felt His spirit renew me.

Going into this experience I felt I could only be demoted because I could not imagine that my daughter and I could be any closer than we were. But this experience bonded us in a way I didn’t even know existed.

I felt so honored to be part of this birth, my heart was filled with joy. And to top off the joy of that day, my daughter, for the first time in a very long time, needed her mama’s comfort; and I was there to give it. Such a rare treat for the mom of a grown woman.

As for being one of those grandparents, no problem there. If you see me coming, hide, for I signed up immediately! I became a card-carrying member of the over-the-top- slightly obnoxious grandparents club the very instant my grandson was born. Would you like to see the pictures?

Points for Prayer and Pondering

1. What are your personal warning signs that you are attempting to control things that are God’s to control?

3. Do you find that when you can let go and allow God to control a situation you have a much more satisfying outcome? Write a paragraph about a time when it happened that way for you.

3. Write a paragraph about   A. An instance when God gave you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.   OR    B.  A time when God sent His angels to take charge and “protect you in your ways.”