Devotion by Dr. Tim Foster as a part of A WORD FROM TIM Ministries:

Some years ago my 1 year old daughter was sitting in her high chair and I was feeding her.  She had just finished her required half jar of strained carrots and it was time for the half jar of applesauce.  But, there was a problem. She had her two little hands around the jar of carrots and she wouldn’t let go.

I tried, vainly, to explain that it was time for the applesauce but she wasn’t interested or even tuned in to what I wanted.  I could have just ripped the jar out of her hands, but I didn’t want to treat her that way.  Finally, in desperation I said to her, “Just trust me. I have something better for you. Let go of that nasty old stuff. Just trust me.”

At that instant, God spoke to me in a voice so clear it was almost audible.  “Yes,” He said, “That’s just what you do to Me.  You keep holding on to what you have, and you won’t let go even though I have something better for you.  Trust Me. Just trust Me.”

It’s been several years since that happened and I am more aware today than I was before of how often and how diligently I hold on to things and dreams and relationships, or even to dreams of relationships.  I hold on so hard that God can’t give me what he has in mind.

Today’s passage is in Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father”. The Aramaic word for father is Ab. Abba is the familiar form of the word.  In other words the relationship between the wordsAb and Abba is identical to the relationship between the words “Dad” and “Daddy”.

Not only is it ok to relate to the God of the Universe as your father, today’s verse tells us He sent His own Spirit within us to cause us to want to cry out to Him as our Abba. And, lest you think that this is not respectful enough, may I remind you that there is not a word with a better combination of love and respect than the word, “Daddy”. Daddy’s can fix anything.

So, it’s not only ok to trust Him, it’s a really good idea.  Not only is it ok to not hold on to our little jars of carrots so tightly, we would probably be a lot better off if we were to watch our Abba more and our carrots less.

READ: Galatians 4: 1-7

Prayer: Father. I admit sometimes it’s a little hard for me to call you Abba, but, I think I get the point. I need to let go of whatever I’m holding on to because really, unless it came from you, it’s all carrots. And, even though sometimes you give us carrots, then you sometimes, take them away so we can receive the applesauce.  I’ll try to be watching you today and be more ready to receive what you give.

All Scripture quotes are from New International Version, [NIV] unless otherwise noted.