by Laura Courtney

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that when I don’t know the answer to something, I will often immediately Google it. I can remember doing it quite often when my daughter was first born. As a new mom, I realized how little I knew and how little prepared I felt to take care of this tiny, fragile life. So, what did I do? I Googled. Everything.

I don’t think I need to tell you that the internet has a lot of opinions. Blogs, forums, research statistics, social media… everybody is an expert on the internet it seems. And the topic of babies is no exception. I think I drove my husband a little crazy for those first few months as I would tell him of a new method for baby caring almost daily.

Now as mentioned, I was (and still consider myself to be) a new mom who felt ill prepared to say the least and inadequate most days. But in all my struggle and worry I started to forget to turn to the One source that I could truly count on for accurate and true data and info. (Hint: the answer is Jesus!)

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

I realized, way too late if I may add, that I was skipping past God and going straight to Google for all my problems, worries, and questions. After all, isn’t that the benefit of having access to seemingly endless data literally right at our fingertips? We can ask any question we want and get plenty of answers instantly. But I know again that I don’t need to tell you that all that data and all those answers are easily manipulated, swayed, changed, and just straight up made up. While I might find some good ideas or resources online, it can be hard to trust a lot of the sources we find on the internet.

But the fact is we do have access to the most reliable and trustworthy resource we could ever need! (Hint: answer again is Jesus!) We should count ourselves fortunate and blessed to have easy and seemingly unlimited access to God’s Word – from bookstores to the app store, the Bible is available to us almost anywhere we go. Not to mention that God is always ready to listen. He doesn’t have office hours, PTO, or limited-service connection. God is just waiting for us to talk to Him every minute of every day.

So, I’d love to say this devo has a perfect and happy ending and once I realized my error, I went to God for everything and don’t worry about a thing with parenting anymore. But much like the internet, that’s not quite true. However, I did finally have that realization that I was going to Google more than God. I have been working on making sure I seek His guidance, wisdom, and words first before I ask anyone else. I don’t always do it in the right order, but I know that those moments when I pause to seek His word and will for my life give me more peace and direction than anything I can find online. Yes, I can still get stressed out at each new phase of parenthood. But I also can continually go to the One who is the only one able to guide me through it all with trustworthy advice.