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A few weeks ago I bought a grout brush to do some long overdue cleaning of the bathroom floors. In the tight corners that the mop cannot adequately keep clean, I needed to get down on my knees with the brush and spruce things up a bit. Before I used it Raegan saw the brush, and in her usual fashion she quickly started to ask questions. The brush is about eight inches long with a good size set of bristles for cleaning in those tight places and she, never having seen such a tool before, had an important question: “Papa, is that a toothbrush?” Admittedly it did have some semblance of a toothbrush but it would take an extraordinarily large mouth to accommodate bristles of that size. Children are such a joy and can catch you completely off-guard with the comments and questions that they have.

On another occasion as I watched Raegan enjoying vanilla ice cream, I could not help myself from admiring her for the look of not having a care in the world. She had that glow on her face that we should all have: no worries, but complete confidence that all her needs would be met because she leaves life’s worries and demands to her parents and grandparents. It makes me wonder at what point in life it is that we lose the joy of complete trust in the absence of all worries. I do not know the answer to that, but I do know that somewhere along the way it becomes easy for us to trade the joy of complete trust for the heaviness of worrying and fretting over a lot of things that we should leave in the hands of our loving and providing Heavenly Father.

There is no doubt that life is full of tough moments. Some of them are significant and life changing while others are little more than inconveniences, but at the time we are facing them, all of them tend to serve as sources of heartache and worry.

It was a really stressful moment when Christ, preparing His disciples for His death on the cross, said to them, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for Me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come” (John 13:33, New International Version).

That was a statement that must have nearly knocked them off their feet, but He did not leave them without hope. Take note of the hope He offered them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me” (John 14:1). One writer suggests that another way to convey what Christ was saying is, “Stop being troubled. Set your heart at ease.”

Life contains many moments and events that are hard to bear, and as was the case with the disciples of Christ as recorded in John 13, to learn that something has occurred or is about to take place that will forever impact your life can seem as though you have been knocked off your feet. Perhaps you have already been there. You might even be there right now. May I remind you that you can take comfort because there is hope through trusting in God. His word to you is the same as it was to those to whom His words were originally spoken: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.” Because of His love for you, He provides hope that enables you to “Stop being troubled. Set your heart at ease.” A great goal in life to pursue for 2022 is to trust the Lord enough to be at ease like a child no matter what circumstances you face.