God blessed me and made me a grandfather when I was still forty-five years old. The delight of my eyes, named Sterling, grows more precious every day. And I am increasingly frightened.

I’ve seen too many shattered lives; I’ve heard too many tales of wrong decisions that have led people down paths with tragic endings. Is there no way I can protect this little guy from the world so filled with darkness?

Did God feel that way when His only Son participated fully in our gloomy, treacherous existence? We marvel that Jesus survived the cross and did not call the legions of angels at His disposal. But how much harder it must have been for His Father to hold back those same angels!

I know I cannot protect Sterling. I can only pray that his decisions, and the decisions of children everywhere, will reflect a right judgment.

All the water in the world, however hard it tried,
Could never, never sink a ship unless it got inside.
All the evil in the world, the wickedness and sin,
Can never sink your soul’s fair craft unless you let it in.
- A. C. Hoffman