Object Permanence

When my baby Acacia is with me, she is all smiles. She loves it when I'm holding her; in fact, if it were up to her, I would probably be holding her all the time. When she's in my arms, when she's resting on me, when she's feeding, she has a sense of my warmth and closeness, a sense of security and love. A feeling that she is ok. She is a happy and contented baby.

What happens, though, when I leave the room? I may need to use the bathroom,  go grab my shoes from the other room, or throw some food in the microwave. Maybe I run in the bedroom to change my clothes or even outside for a minute to take out the trash. I may be driving the car and she is in the back where she can't see me.What happens when I am not within reach and she can't feel me with her?

She cries, of course. She starts by grunting discontentedly and then eventualy escalating to a full cry. The longer she can't see me, the worse it gets. When I come back to within her vision, she usually settles down. Sometimes it's not until I hold her or even feed her again that she regains contentment.

People talk about the concept of object permanence--the idea that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be observed (seen, heard, touched, smelled or sensed in any way). Like when you play Peekaboo--a baby must learn that your face is still there even when your hands are covering it. Object permanence is something, apparently, that babies struggle with and may not master until the age of 2.

How similar is a baby's struggle with object permanence to people's struggle to know and understand God?

There are times in life when there are "blessings"--things that make us feel "close" to God. A sick loved one gets better, an unexpected financial gift is received, we enjoy times with family and good friends, we feel encouraged after a church service or reading a favorite passage of Scripture. These are all times where it's easy to believe that God loves us; we feel that He is holding us and feeding us and we are happy and content that He is "close."

But what about when He "leaves the room," so to speak? When an illness persists, when an exciting opportunity falls through, when a relationship doesn't meet our expectations, when we struggle to make ends meet, when a natural disaster or terrorist strike occurs. Perhaps things as simple as being stuck in traffic or late to work or a spouse ticking you off or a child failing to obey. Whatever the hardship is in your life. Like the baby that doesn't understand the object permanence of his / her mother, we feel discontent because we don't see God. We don't feel Him at that moment. So we start to cry out in frustration and upsetness. . . in distrust, in fear.

Does a parent love her baby less when she has gone into the other room? Does a parent love her baby more when she is holding her?

Similarly, does God love us less when we can't feel or see Him? Does God love us more when we feel that we can?

Perhaps the more important question is. . . do we know God's love at all? I mean, truly KNOW it. Know Him. Or do we only understand what makes us feel good? Like the baby, who only feels good when being held, we easily trust to what makes us feel comfortable. The baby doesn't truly know the mother's love. If a baby really truly did, he would be content either way, knowing by her spirit that in all she does she loves him. Why would it matter if she were holding him or in the other room? So it is with us and God. If God is God, if He is real, than ALL of His actions are 100% righteous, to be trusted, to be reverenced, to be content with. No matter where He goes, what He does, no matter how it makes us feel.

Of course, with God, it's more than just an understanding of object permanence. It's not enough to just have the mental knowledge that God is there all the time. This simple understanding cannot save us from our distrustful feelings of frustration, discontent, or faithlessness.

Our spirits must be united with His through Christ, so that we can really truly know Him. And when we know Him for real we will know that at all times He is permanent. If His Spirit is in us, God Himself is in us, and with us, and we are in Him. We are never apart. There is never doubt of His heart and love. There is never doubt of His goodness. There is never distrust of His worthiness to be who He is. . . God. We are one in Christ. "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3: 3). "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). If Christ lives in us, He obeys the Father perfectly and knows Him perfectly. Christ cannot doubt Himself. Let who we are die so that it may be Christ in us, Christ who knows without any doubt the heart of God the Father.