Don’t Bite the Breast that Feeds You

My baby is cutting teeth right now. Literally. She’s lying on a pillow in my lap, nursing even as I type. About the time I think she has fallen asleep and can be transferred back to her crib, she makes another last-ditch effort to help those central incisors break the surface. It’s a painful experience for both of us. I’ve given her numbing gel and teething rings, yet she remains determined to cut her teeth on me.

That this is for her own good, that she’ll need those teeth later on, that once she has them, she’ll forget the pain she endured to get them—these concepts elude her understanding at the moment. She only knows that she’s hurting and that she longs for comfort and relief. Which explains why—ouch!—she is currently resting in my arms and not in her bed.

Are there things in your life that bring pain or distress? Things that seem hard to bear? Things that hurt? It is easy to lose sight of the fact that such trials are a necessary part of growing up. They are for our own good. They stretch us, equip us, mold us, mature us. Which is why we are told to rejoice when we find ourselves in the midst of difficulty (James 1:2-3).

Yet God does not leave us without comfort. He has promised to carry us through (Matt. 11:28-30). We must learn to rest in Him. When we are hurting, there is no better place to be than in His arms.