“Trust me, I will keep you safe,” a father spoke to the nervous child standing on the edge of the pool. It was his first time at the pool. Such a tiny child standing hesitantly before the immense pool. The water sparkled with such a gentle glimmering. This required a huge leap of faith, into the unknown and uncertainty. The child was unsure, although the father knows the immense joy that awaits the child when he learns how to swim. All it takes is a small measure of faith and trust in the father. Are we like the child? If we don’t jump into the water, that means we don’t trust the father to take care of us. Or do we dare to trust the father and take a mighty leap of faith?

A child decides to take a leap of faith because he knows his father loves him and can be trusted. His father doesn’t fail him and keeps him afloat with his steady hand. The child is still nervous but realizes his father’s hand is keeping the child afloat. The father then gradually take his hand away but then the child panics as he sank slightly. Yet his father’s hand was always there to make sure he doesn’t sink completely. He repeats the process until the child can learn how to swim on his own. Sometimes we go through trials where it seems like we could sink or fail. We go through this process so we can learn how to “swim” and yet father’s loving hand is never too far away!

Our loving father knows what is best for us. His loving tender hands take away what is unfruitful and prunes us like a master gardener. He is very patient and His timing is precise!

John 15:1-5
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.