(originally posted in September 2006)
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
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What comfort this gives us as we embark on our ministry of raising up our children. Sometimes we see the results from the beginning; sometimes it takes years to see the results. Sometimes we think our efforts will never bear fruit.
Lately, the Lord has blessed me with glimpses of those fruits emerging. Dare I be so confident of this? Is there a danger in this, provided I don’t allow myself to think that the credit goes to me? Confidence in this promise because of Who has made the promise is perfectly within God’s will. Is it not?
In the past few weeks, my children have begun to ask me to pray for certain things. Since when have they held such confidence in prayer? When did this begin, and how did I fail to notice the first buddings of this fruit?
My daughter has been expressing (now and then) dismay over not having a faith like the faith that she sees in others. Is this the beginning of the Holy Spirit convicting her–of the Father drawing her to Christ? Am I so privileged as to witness the labor pangs that precede my daughter’s spiritual birth from above, just as I was part of those that announced her physical emergence?
Earlier this week, my son pleaded with me to go on a church youth retreat. How astounded was I when, rather than giving the expected reason of “I want to go away with my friends for three days and have fun”, he blessed my ears with “I really want to go away for three days to learn about God.” And today, as we did our Bible study, he expressed the amazing thought of how much he wished Jesus was on earth now, in our lifetimes, so that he could see Him and know Him. When I explained how he can talk to Him now, through prayer, he put on a disappointed face and said that sometimes, that’s not good enough.
I know how he feels. Sometimes it ISN’T enough, and I want so much more of Him.
Still, what a blessing to hear these words coming from my children. May God continue to water whatever tiny seeds I have planted in them.
All glory to God alone.
