October 2, 2025 // Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10
Reflect on the Word //
I thought I had made progress. I’d brought it up in therapy countless times, I’d journaled, labeled the emotions, identified the root cause. I even prayed about it—more than once. But one quiet afternoon, a friend said something small, and suddenly I was fighting back tears. Where did that come from? I had already “dealt with” this. Right?
But the reaction didn’t lie. There was still something raw underneath, something unresolved that analysis hadn’t touched. I realized I had been trying to manage my healing more than receive it. Somewhere along the way, healing had become another thing to control—another task to complete.
Jesus' call to “turn and become like children” strikes me in a tender place (Matthew 18:3). I don’t like feeling small. I want to understand, manage, and master my own healing. I want to know why I feel what I feel and exactly how to fix it. But children don’t approach their needs that way. They don’t have all the language or answers. They simply feel—and they bring those feelings to someone they trust.
That’s the invitation in today’s Gospel. Jesus isn’t infantilizing us or asking us to become childish, but rather asking us to have a childlike surrender of our illusion of control. A child doesn't pretend to be okay when they aren’t. They don’t try to analyze their way out of pain. They just come. That’s what humility looks like—trusting God enough to bring the messy, unedited truth of ourselves into His presence, even when we don’t fully understand it.
And Jesus receives us there. In fact, He sees that part of us—the raw, needy, tender parts we often try to hide or fix on our own. He warns us not to despise “these little ones” (Matthew 18:10)—and that includes the little, hurting parts of ourselves.
What if true healing begins when we stop trying to be strong and start trusting like children? As we learn to let go of control, may we also learn to rest in God’s kindness, knowing He meets us exactly where we are—not where we think we should be.
Relate to the Lord // Have you been trying to manage your healing? Ask Jesus to help you to simply receive instead.
Mary Peach lives in Atlanta and is passionate about helping others encounter Jesus in a real and personal way. Born in Ethiopia and adopted at age eleven, she shares vulnerably about faith, healing, and redemption through every season of life. Through her work in ministry and her writing, she hopes others feel less alone in their stories and more deeply known by God. In her free time, she enjoys photography, travel, pickleball, and spending time with friends and family.
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