In Your Hands

I am trusting you, O LORD,

saying, “You are my God!”

My future is in your hands. Psalm 31:14-15

FROM THE TIME they are newborns, we are concerned about how our children are progressing. In the early days we follow their weight and growth on percentile charts. We are proud when our children seem to be ahead of the game in terms of reading or verbal or physical coordination skills. We want to know what we can do —what we can feed them, teach them, how we can train them —to keep them moving toward a bright future. During the school years, our parental fear or confidence rises and falls on how well our children are progressing in school and sports, as well as socially and physically. As they emerge into young adulthood, we can’t help but set timelines for them to finish their education, find a mate, and establish a career. And all along the way, we often think and act and feel as if it is up to us and our children to chart out a path for their lives and make it happen.

But King David knew otherwise. When he looked at his past, he remembered how he had been plucked out of the shepherd’s field and anointed king of Israel. As he took stock of his present situation, which was full of distress and uncertainty, he determined to trust the God who had made him his own. And as he looked toward the future, he recognized that he was not ultimately in control. Neither did he want to be. “My future is in your hands,” David said to his God.

Sometimes we want to take the Lord’s place in our children’s lives and are foolish enough to think we actually could. But their future is not in our hands. It’s not under our control, nor is it our responsibility. And ultimately our children’s future is not in their hands either, but in God’s.

I would like to say that I am trusting you, Lord, with ________’s future. But the truth is, I find myself obsessing over many aspects of who ________ will be, what ________ will do, and where ________ will be. If I’m honest, I have my own expectations and timeline for how ________’s life should progress. But I know that ________’s future is not in my hands. And deep down I don’t want it to be. I know that the safest place to be, the place of favor and blessing, is in your hands. So I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are ________’s God. ________’s future is in your hands.”