He Must Increase

"He must increase, I must decrease."
John 3:30

When Logan, our oldest son was little his favorite ride at Busch Gardens was the kiddie airplanes. I remember the first time he rode them by himself; he was filled with excitement as the ride went round and round and up and down.  Every time he passed by I stood on my tiptoes and waving like a crazy lady, praying that he wouldn’t fall out. Fast forward 16 years and now I am sitting on a crowded airplane (a real one) with that same son, 10,000 feet in the air getting ready to parachute out.  Suddenly, that ride at Busch Gardens seemed so small by comparison.    
 
As mothers we want to protect our children from life’s difficulties and uncertainties. If he doesn’t get enough playing time in the game, we confront the coach. If her friend said something mean to her, we call the girls mom and get it worked out. If he really wants a certain teacher this year we and go to the school and make it happen. There are certainly times when we need to step in because our child is in an unsafe situation, but more times than not we do it because we want to make sure our child is happy.  
 
John the Baptist, when questioned about Jesus’ growing ministry as his own ministry was declining said,  “He must increase, I must decrease”.  James 1:2-4 tells us that the troubles in life are an opportunity for our faith in the Lord to grow; as our faith grows the Lord becomes bigger and bigger to us.  He increases. 
 
In His increasing He prepares us to trust Him to do what he calls us to do.  We will be able to say, “Lord I do not know what is going to happen, but I trust your sovereignty, goodness and love for me as I walk through this.” When we approach difficulty and uncertainty in this way we come out on the other side with a stronger, deeper trust in the Lord.
 
Walking to the edge of that airplane, counting to three and jumping out is probably the most dangerous, frightening and uncertain things Logan and I have ever done.  And quite honestly jumping out of a plane has NEVER been on my bucket list but it was on Logan’s.  I remember waiting to board the plane thinking I could be the coolest mom in history, or the worst mom ever depending on the outcome. We could have avoided the danger, I could have stepped in and refused to allow Logan to go sky diving, but I would have taken an incredible adventure away from him. A chance for him to face danger and uncertainty and be brave, which is an important lesson in a young mans life.
 
The Lord has a great adventure planned for our children, but in order for them to live it out “He must increase”. For this to happen our children occasionally experience difficulty, challenges and uncertainty.  (That “trouble” James talks about so their faith will grow.) In the end, isn’t that what we ultimately want for them? For their faith to be so strong they are willing to jump into any adventure He calls them to, even if it is not one we would personally call then to? One that allows Him to increase and us to decrease. Learning to fully trust Him in the process.

Author

Julie Fuller