Isaiah 28

Days with a baby can be long. Many stay-at-home moms live for the times when their babies nap or go down to sleep for the night. (I know I did!) Ahhh, finally a moment to relax, put your feet up, and close your eyes. Otherwise, the days can seem non-stop.

When our oldest daughter was a little over nine months, it was exciting to see all the developmental changes she underwent in a short amount of time. She cut five teeth in one week! She began crawling—although at first, she did this part-crawl, part-walk, part-hop Quasimodo thing. (We thought she might be a monkey.) And when she “found her voice,” she would often “talk” seemingly non-stop: ba ba ba ba, da da da da, ma ma ma ma, na na na na, ta ta ta ta, aaaaaAAAAHHH!

And I remember thinking at the time, “Pretty soon, that part-crawl, part-walk, part-hop will be a run. And pretty soon, that endless babble will turn into words and sentences. Those teeth will come in fully, then fall out and make way for other teeth.” Every day, I was more and more convinced that I would but blink, and she would be turning 16.

Though I’m sure every mother has felt this way, there were some days when I felt all alone with my mission in the world. But as I thought about those memories today, Isaiah reminded me that God has also raised a few babies in His time: “But that’s exactly how you will be addressed. God will speak to this people in baby talk, one syllable at a time—and he’ll do it through foreign oppressors. He said before, ‘This is the time and place to rest, to give rest to the weary. This is the place to lay down your burden.’ But they won’t listen. So God will start over with the simple basics and address them in baby talk, one syllable at a time—’Da da, da, da, blah, blah, blah, blah. That’s a good little girl, that’s a good little boy.’ And like toddlers, they will get up and fall down, get bruised and confused and lost.” (vs 11-13)

This is the wonderful thing about God. He can relate to us and communicate with us no matter the stage of our spiritual development. If the extent of our spiritual language is ba ba ba ba, da da da da, God is right there with us, helping us develop our speaking skills, teaching us how to form those syllables into words and sentences. If the extent of our spiritual motor skills is a part-crawl, part-walk, part-hop, God is right there with us, holding us up, supporting our feeble muscles, helping us find our feet so we can take off running.

God is an infinitely patient teacher, and there is nothing He can’t teach to those who are willing to advance in their development. To those who are open to the Spirit, they will grow and develop in righteousness as babies and toddlers grow and develop in physical and mental ways. They don’t worry about their walking, their talking, or their teething. They depend on Mom and Dad to meet their needs, and everything else comes in its own time.

But what if, as my daughter grew older, she insisted on remaining a nine-month-old forever? What if she had refused to walk and talk and feed herself? While watching an episode of the Dr. Phil show once, I was shocked to discover that there are people in the world who do just this; they call themselves Adult Babies. Though they are adults, they insist on living the perpetual lifestyle of a baby—wearing diapers (and having someone else change them!), sleeping in a crib, speaking in baby talk, crawling, and being spoon-fed or drinking from a bottle. And, to my further surprise, I discovered that there are other adults out there who “adopt” these babies!

God is an infinitely patient teacher. If we are open to His Spirit and willing to be taught by Him, there will be no obstacle to our spiritual development. It doesn’t matter if we must spend years in the ba ba ba ba stage; with our willingness and the Spirit’s work, God will perfect us in His time.

It is the Adult Babies who will eventually force God to let them go, because—while He is an infinitely patient teacher—He cannot force us to be willing to listen and learn. And if we ultimately close ourselves off to the influence of the Spirit in our lives, determined to remain in our diapers and eat from a bottle, there will come a point where God will be able to do no more for us.

God is an infinitely patient teacher, and He wants us to grow up into healthy, happy, fully-functioning spiritual adults. So, no matter where you are in your development—whether a babbling baby or a stormy adolescent, enjoy this day with God. He’ll take care of all your needs, and in His time, He’ll teach you everything you need to know.