Here's What My Son Is Teaching Me About God

Over the last several weeks I have learned ALOT in this new chapter of life called fatherhood. 

I've been spit up on, pooped on, peed on, and discovered just about every way you can make a baby upset. 

But I've also learned how to change diapers, do chores with one hand, and love to a degree greater than I would have ever believed possible. 

In short, fatherhood is both amazing and exhausting.

It's both exhilarating and overwhelming. 

And one of the things that I have learned the most about is - God.

At the risk of sounding cheesy: fatherhood has taught me a great deal about God. I am now seeing a greater glimpse of just how much God loves us and how He must delight in our own joy (i.e. I am filled with so much joy when I see my son's face light up with a smile). At the same time, I now have a better picture of how much it must pain God to see us grieve and hurt, but also how He might "face-palm" every time we get upset about pain we have brought upon ourselves (like when my son becomes upset beyond comforting when he accidentally punches himself in the face). 

The number one lesson I've learned, though, has been discovering new depths to the verse from the Bible which says: "He must become greater; I must become less."

John the Baptist, who was quite the eccentric guy, stated this quote in reference to his 'partnership' with Jesus. As Jesus was beginning His ministry, John willingly stepped to the sidelines and pointed people in the direction of Jesus. After years of developing a following and speaking to crowds, John did not hold tightly to what he had built up but instead he humbly directed them towards Jesus. 

And I was reminded of this verse recently as I was putting clothes in our family's dresser. More specifically, I thought of this verse as I was putting some of my clothes in a donation box and putting my baby son's clothes into drawers which were formerly 'mine'. 

Was it hard getting rid of my own stuff? Yeah - of course! I have cheapskate tendencies so getting rid of items that can still be used is difficult.

But it wasn't as hard as I expected. Why? Because the space my clothes had been occupying was being filled with belongings of someone I absolutely adore - my son. (And his clothes are so incredibly adorable!)

We still have the same amount of dresser space, but it is now filled with different things. Things that, honestly, bring me more joy than my own clothes (most of which I don't wear enough anyways). 

And this relates to our lives, right? When it comes to our relationship with God, it can be hard giving up our things, our control, and our priorities. 

But God does not solely call us to give up everything good and joy-filled and beautiful in our lives. He invites us to give up the parts of our lives that are hindering us and replace them with something better - HIM. 

We are called to become less, not for the sake of just being less than 100%. But by becoming less, we give space for God to fill us up with what is best and with what He desires. 

That's why John the Baptist could give up his following. Because he knew something better was on the way. 

And that's why I'm giving up drawer space to my son - because my priority is no longer myself but my child. 

And that is also the challenge each of us is presented with in our lives: to give up space to allow God to fill us up with something new, something joy-filled, something eternal.

That's what my young son is teaching me about God right now. What are you learning about God currently?