I remember the time when my youngest daughter begged me to take her to the park to play on the swings. I remember the day when she mastered the skill of swinging on her own. She learned how to straighten out her feet in order to go forward and to bring her feet under her to go back. I was happy when she was able to swing on her own; mastering one of those important life skills. However, I found out something about swinging. Long after she mastered the ability to swing on her own, once in a while she still said to me: “Daddy, please give me a push”.
In the Christian life we have much to learn. We need to learn how to walk with God and follow Jesus. We need to learn how to resist temptation and get along with people. We must grow up in our relationship with Christ to be fully mature, faithfully following, and fervently serving sons of God. I believe God wants us to get past the childhood phase of our Christian life and learn how to “swing on our own”. But once in a while we come to a place in our lives when we don’t feel so confident. Even though we know what we are supposed to do, it is hard to get the swing moving. I am so glad that when those times occur in our lives we can look up to our precious Lord in Heaven and say: “Father, please give me a push”. I am reminded of what the writer to Hebrews says in chapter 13:5,6: “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me”. The Lord is our ever-present helper; He will never leave us or forsake us. He is always there to give us a push in life.
Perhaps you have come to a place in your life when the swing is standing still and you just can’t get it moving. All of your kicking doesn’t seem to get you anywhere. It is probably time to look up to your gracious Heavenly Father and simply say to Him, “Father, give me a push”. You will find that He will be right there standing behind you helping you to get going again.