Hear Me Out
A presumptuous sounding title indeed! Mom to mom, I hope you will hear my heart to help. As a mother ready to launch her oldest daughter into adulthood, I can attest to this one thing. May these words encourage you as parents, and even relieve some of the pressure that the weight of parenting brings from wanting raise your kids in the ways of the Lord.
“What is one thing you hope your kids will know?”
I was in a homeschooling group one day when our leader asked, “What is one thing you hope your kids will know?” I responded without even thinking: “the truth.”
As I have had time to consider this, I would like to expound upon this idea for us seeking to best parent those in our stead.
Truth meaning, God’s truth found only in Scripture.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
Note how it states: “Training.”
And what does God tell us to do as parents?
“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prov. 22:6
We have the call to train our children directly from the Lord AND He gives us the material to train them with. What a loving God we have!
We Should Raise Doers
But dare I wonder is simply knowing the truth enough for our children?
Looking at the racks and shelves of parenting books, one would guess not!
If they have all the info, is that really what we are after as Christian parents? Our blunt biblical friend James shares his thoughts:
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” James 1:22
(Isn’t James so real?)
So it’s not enough to know the truth, they must act on what they know. We understand this, but there is still one thing I think we are missing.
If They Can Do This…
Parents are really adept in speculating worst case scenarios. Scary stuff we try to prevent or at least prepare them for. Recently, I found myself in a tailspin of worry, and I know better as a Christian. You see I am actually terrible at thinking of bad stuff that could happen, and being aware of danger.
This is why I am not a germaphobe! It does not compute for me. In fact, I am almost naive.
So when all the bad what-ifs did finally surface, I became engulfed in fear.
And then I thought, if I have taught my girls to rely upon the Lord, then I have taught them all they need to know.
This is the one thing: TRUST.
Think about it with me, Church.
Let’s say you are in the middle of a serious accident, and you are completely powerless. Sharing from a personal example- when you are flipping end over end in a vehicle with your family for instance- what do you do?
Well, I screamed: JESUS JESUS JESUS! – I RELIED upon the Lord. I trusted Him and Him only at that and every moment.
What do you want your kids to do when they are in trouble? (Or even just in the day to day?)
We want our children to RELY UPON THE LORD! He is faithful.
This is the one thing, that we teach them to “seek first the Kingdom” in all things and to trust the Creator, Deliverer, God of the Universe, and Father.
Look at what happens when trust the Lord:
“He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” Psalm 112:7
Isn’t this what we REALLY want for our children? To trust and rely upon the Lord?
Jesus said bad things will happen. No ifs. So when they do, we want our kids to spiritually dial 911 and trust in Him.
Look, if they know the truth, it is not necessarily enough as having the faith that it IS the truth. Our kids will only act on faith if they believe it to be true.
Pray for your children to have faith enough for them to stake their life, their family, their job, their decisions, their parenting, their hope, their everything upon God and His truth!
Lord help us to model and teach our children to trust You. Not us. You, Father. Let them rely upon your faithfulness. Give them unshakeable faith as your Word says. In Jesus’s Name, we pray. Amen.
Psalm 16:8:
“I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”