God Has You in the Palm of His Hand

A Reflection by Gracie Bott, ’21

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up so fast. I’m pretty sure we all did, right? I remember watching TeenNick or Friends, and just dying to grow up. High School Musical was exactly what I thought I was going to grow up and experience.

I remember thinking senior year would be the best year ever! I expected to have a boyfriend, join all the clubs, take all the hardest classes, and probably become valedictorian. But now, I’m a senior and I still feel like a little kid. I still feel like I have so much more to live, and to learn. Truthfully, I have no idea what’s going on half the time. I definitely have way less figured out than I expected to by senior year. Looking back, I had it so nice as a kid. I woke up, got breakfast made for me, was chauffeured to school, made arts and crafts all day, got to eat SpaghettiOs for lunch, got to take a nap, and then go home and eat more snacks. All of this is happening while I don’t have to worry about money, friends, college, school, or clothes.

I think, often, as young adults, we look way too far into the future. I mean, I already have my wedding planned… that’s definitely excessive. And, especially in our time, I think we feel like we need to have everything figured out. If we don’t know the answer to something, it’s because we’re unprepared. But I think the pandemic, and this entire situation, has taught us how to live like little children again. None of us can accurately say what is to come these next few months. Not even the smartest scientists alive have any idea, in the slightest. This upcoming year is truthfully just up to God.

On the surface, this is stressful. This is not something that any of us are used to. We’re so acclimated to knowing the next step, knowing what battles to prepare for. But, today, we’re reminded that we are truly helpless on our own. We’re being forced to follow Jesus’ commandment in today’s gospel – to become like little children. To trust God in His entirety, not predicting the future. To know that God has everything under control, even if we can’t wrap our heads around it.

And this is so different than anything we have ever experienced, right? But there’s huge peace in knowing that we don’t need to look into the future. We don’t need to try and figure it all out. That responsibility is not on any of us. Our only job today is to trust. Our only responsibility is to live, and to take whatever may come our way. Our only job is to be like a child again.

This is the demonstration of Jesus’ words today. We can’t try and guess what’s to come. We can’t try and predict what God has planned for us. We can’t even begin to predict what’s going to happen with this virus. But have peace knowing that right here, right now, God is loving you, and teaching you how to live like a little child again. God is actively and purposefully guiding you through the unknown. I don’t know about you, but this gives me more comfort than predicting the future ever could. Because, instead of trying to take the responsibility of the future into our hands, we can now see that it’s in God’s hands –not ours. The truth is, it has never been in our hands. We have never been able to predict God’s plan. The only difference today, is that we know that. We’ve been made painfully aware that we’re essentially always helpless, and we always have been. When we do try to predict and control everything, we often end up feeling like a toddler who tried to dress, feed, and care for himself without the loving care and guidance of his parents or caretakers. We feel pretty silly and realize we can’t do it without full dependence on God. When we realize this, we are free to live like a little kid again, not worrying about every little thing, but trusting that we will be cared for in every way by our loving Father.

So, during this season of uncertainty and unpredictability, know that you are held. Know that you are protected. Know that God has you in the palm of His hand, no matter how hard you may try to take things into your own hands. He will never let you go.

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