“With the confidence of a child, I throw myself into Your arms, O Father of Mercy” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 505
I love St. Therese of Liseux’s “A Story of a Soul” and her little way for exactly this reason. “Childlike trust.” A child has no doubt, absolute trust of dad. I know my dad was Superman to me when I was little. There is nothing that he couldn’t do or overcome. I was absolutely safe when he was near.
Watch a dad and his son walking down the sidewalk. The dad keeps his boy in sight from the corner of his eye and the boy always glances to see that dad is there and maybe to stay in step with him (cause that’s cool). When they come to the curb at the crosswalk, the boy puts his hand up, for dad to take. The boy doesn’t look left to see if dad is there nor doubt that he will take the offered hand. There is no doubt in his mind.
When a child is frightened or gets hurt, the natural place of comfort is the arms of a parent. This is the first thing a crying child looks for. So it must be with us. The arms of our Father in Heaven, and Jesus our Savior, are what we must run to in our need. We should not hesitate to turn to God in all things, especially when tempted to despair, or when we recognize our weakness and sin.
Like, St. Therese said, we need to throw our arms up to climb into the lap of the Father. It is then we will be safe.
When burdens weigh you down, or when you get angry or are tempted to despair, where do you turn? Some turn to sinful fleshly comforts, others to harsh words, and others run to God. Run to God in every moment! Ideally, we run to Him when life is good and when we are filled with great joy and consolation. But God also wants us to run to Him, immediately, when life is hard. Make the arms of God the first thing you think about when you find yourself in need.
“I too would like to find an elevator to lift me up to Jesus, for I am too little to climb up the steep stairway of perfection.” Then I looked in the holy books for some sign of the elevator that I desired, and I read these words that had come forth from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: “Whoever is VERY LITTLE let him come to me” [Proverbs 9:4]. So I came, guessing that I had found what I sought. Wishing to know, O my God, what you would do for a little child who answered your call, I continued my search and this is what I found: “As a mother caresses her baby, so I will comfort you: I will carry you at my breast and rock you in my lap” [Isaiah 66:13, 12].” St. Therese