My children. Sarah, Rebecca, and Caleb. There is no way to adequately describe what those three young folks mean to me. And our tribe has grown, as we've added Ryan. And Lydia ... sweet Lydia.
These children have consumed my thoughts and prayers since I first learned I was pregnant with the girls in February of 1990 - actually, even before then. I think every other mother is the same way - at least the ones I know. And while I have a life separate from my children (which is not only necessary, but healthy), they are each a part of me. My heart is so wrapped around each one of theirs, that I feel a unique connection with each of them that I feel with no one else. As Elizabeth Stone put it, they are pieces of my heart, which are now walking around outside of my body. And when those pieces of my heart hurt, I feel it in a very real and literal way. Likewise, nothing brings me more joy than their joys. Every mother knows exactly what I am talking about.
What has been eye-opening for me in this journey of motherhood is that the job doesn't end. It only changes, and in some ways it grows more difficult. When I was a new mother, I was under the mistaken impression that when the children grew up and left home, my job would be over. Nothing could be further from the truth. And while I continue to have concern for each one of them in the physical things of life - their health and safety - the overriding concern that I have learned will never end is my concern for their spiritual well-being.
The New Testament is replete with warnings of the dangers of worldliness. And while I need to take heed for my own soul first, by extension those "pieces of my heart" continue to be my concern as well. Yes, they are mature, responsible adults, and I believe each of them is doing their best to live a godly life. But none of us are beyond falling - if you think you are, read 1 Corinthians 10:12.
These thoughts occurred to me last month as I was reading Job. Here was a man whom God described as one of a kind, when he told Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. he is blameless and upright; a man who fears God and shuns evil." And yet, Job was also a parent, and he was vitally concerned with the spiritual welfare of his grown children. Job 1:4 tells us that, "His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, 'Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did continually." Umbreit translates the phrase "cursed God in their hearts" as "may have dismissed God from their hearts." In other words, Job's concern was that his children might be so overcome by the world, that God would be dismissed. Isn't that the same concern we all have for our children? And isn't it the same concern we even have for ourselves?
Job's children were grown - they lived in their own houses. But Job was still concerned about their spiritual welfare. They were out of the purview of Job's authority, but he still made offerings for them to God. Continually. I believe that there was nothing more important to Job than his children's standing before God.
The three souls that began as human beings inside of me, as the result of choices Jeff and I made, will live eternally. What a sobering thought. Ultimately, each of them will make their own decision about how they will live their lives, and whether or not they will continue to serve God. They are doing that right now - in Houston, in Irving, and in Nacogdoches. As a stay-at-home mother, a young professional, and a nursing student. THEY choose each day to live for Him, or to forsake His Word; to give in to temptations, or to remain pure. And each of them will be judged accordingly - and individually - for the choices they make. But my primary goal as their mother - the one thing that consumes my prayer time more than anything else - is to do everything within my power to see each of them, their spouses, and their children in heaven. And so I, like Job, "make offerings" for each of them. Continually. And not only for them, but for my son-in-law and my granddaughter, who are also now "my children."
Meyer wrote, “What a beautiful example is furnished by Job to Christian parents! When your girls are going among strangers, and your boys into the great ways of the world, and you are unable to impose your will upon them, as in the days of childhood, you can yet pray for them, casting over them the shield of intercession, with strong cryings and tears. They are beyond your reach; but by faith you can move the arm of God on their behalf.”
What comfort. What encouragement. The three I love more than life itself, their spouses, and their children - along with the other children in my life whose souls I cherish - are loved by God even more than I can love them. And He hears my prayers on their behalf. And yours. Growing up is hard. Being a young adult in a godless society is difficult. Let's all strive to be more like Job, as we pray earnestly and fervently - continually - for our children.
These thoughts occurred to me last month as I was reading Job. Here was a man whom God described as one of a kind, when he told Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. he is blameless and upright; a man who fears God and shuns evil." And yet, Job was also a parent, and he was vitally concerned with the spiritual welfare of his grown children. Job 1:4 tells us that, "His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, 'Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did continually." Umbreit translates the phrase "cursed God in their hearts" as "may have dismissed God from their hearts." In other words, Job's concern was that his children might be so overcome by the world, that God would be dismissed. Isn't that the same concern we all have for our children? And isn't it the same concern we even have for ourselves?
Job's children were grown - they lived in their own houses. But Job was still concerned about their spiritual welfare. They were out of the purview of Job's authority, but he still made offerings for them to God. Continually. I believe that there was nothing more important to Job than his children's standing before God.
The three souls that began as human beings inside of me, as the result of choices Jeff and I made, will live eternally. What a sobering thought. Ultimately, each of them will make their own decision about how they will live their lives, and whether or not they will continue to serve God. They are doing that right now - in Houston, in Irving, and in Nacogdoches. As a stay-at-home mother, a young professional, and a nursing student. THEY choose each day to live for Him, or to forsake His Word; to give in to temptations, or to remain pure. And each of them will be judged accordingly - and individually - for the choices they make. But my primary goal as their mother - the one thing that consumes my prayer time more than anything else - is to do everything within my power to see each of them, their spouses, and their children in heaven. And so I, like Job, "make offerings" for each of them. Continually. And not only for them, but for my son-in-law and my granddaughter, who are also now "my children."
Meyer wrote, “What a beautiful example is furnished by Job to Christian parents! When your girls are going among strangers, and your boys into the great ways of the world, and you are unable to impose your will upon them, as in the days of childhood, you can yet pray for them, casting over them the shield of intercession, with strong cryings and tears. They are beyond your reach; but by faith you can move the arm of God on their behalf.”
What comfort. What encouragement. The three I love more than life itself, their spouses, and their children - along with the other children in my life whose souls I cherish - are loved by God even more than I can love them. And He hears my prayers on their behalf. And yours. Growing up is hard. Being a young adult in a godless society is difficult. Let's all strive to be more like Job, as we pray earnestly and fervently - continually - for our children.
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