Parenting 3
March 26, 2000
Dear Friends:
One of the greatest comforts a believing parent has is that God is watching over our children. We are told “in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” We cannot always be there to protect and guide our children, but God can.
Sometimes we may experience a sense of helplessness as we cannot buffer every blow and dry every tear than many come. We can teach, protect, and correct our children only in the sense that we mimic our heavenly Father. We must offer our children up in faith as we do all things in this life.
This response is entirely fitting in that we are told in Psalm 127:3 that “children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” The word “heritage” has the implication of something inherited or an estate. In other words, it is a gift which we were not in possession of until is was bestowed upon us. There is a sense that every believer must feel that we are but earthly guardians of our children. The “Father of lights” is the true father. Perhaps that is what is intended when we are told “call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven..” (Matt. 23:9) There is a greater purpose in our children than the day to day routine to which we have become so familiar. We are preparing our children to be children of the Kingdom of God.
Just before verse 3 in Psalm 127 we are told “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” The context bears out that a successful house is not the work of you or I, but of God. It follows then that success concerning our children is not our triumph, but God’s. We are but stewards of God’s heritage. His children become a gift to us and thereby become our children.
Such a holy calling elevates the notion of parenting to a new level. We are no longer simply shuffling our children about to and fro, but raising God’s children. Incumbent in that notion is the responsibility of the earthly parent to instill in the child the character of their heavenly Father.
One often wonders at the pattern found in the stories of the king of Judah that good kings often had bad children. One of the best kings, Hezekiah, was the father of Manasseh, one of Judah’s worst kings. Sometimes the reverse is true. Perhaps the lesson in this is twofold. First, we may be taught that there is a danger for an otherwise successful servant of God to be a poor parent. Brethren can be so caught up in the affairs of the ecclesia that they neglect things at home. This is addressed in the New Testament where ecclesial leaders are forbidden to serve in that capacity if they do not have their affairs straight at home. Another lesson we may be taught is that which we have alluded earlier; namely that God brings the increase of the fruit of our womb. If we think that we alone by force of will or close adherence to Dr. Spock can bring about citizens fitting for the Kingdom of God, we are sadly mistaken.
When it is all said and done, we watch. We pray. We worry. We teach. But in the end, all things, including our blessed children, are God’s.
Have a great week!
