"'Be strong all you people of the land,' declares the Lord, 'and work. For I am wit

A mother says to her small child, 'Come on sweetie, you can do it; Mommy is here.' What is she trying to achieve? Her offspring's maturity into fully functioning, self-conscious, self-determining being. If God did for us, all that he asks of us, he would do a better job of it, but we would never grow in his image; never share in his joy. Instead he ask us to take our wobbly steps, while he walks beside us.