Holding My Faith Firmly Instead of My Children

In the past 24 hours I’ve had the opportunity to talk to two of my children – my high school sophomore and my 6th-grader – about their faith. It was eye-opening, a little bit heart-breaking, but not without hope.

I so desperately want my children to know the Lord and to trust Him.

I want them to have a deep abiding faith that God loves them, that they were made with a purpose, that they are valuable and worthy, that God has a great and wonderful plan for their lives, and that sometimes life is tough but the ending will always be sweet!

When my husband left, God led me to Isaiah 54. It has verses that I love…verses like:

For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. And O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, ‘I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones. ALL YOUR CHILDREN SHALL BE TAUGHT BY THE LORD, AND GREAT SHALL BE THE PEACE OF YOUR CHILDREN.’ (Verses 5-6, 11-13) (emphasis mine)

I think I’ve written about verse 13 before… it’s such a comfort that God is going to teach my children. What a blessing to know that their faith is all about Him and not a whole lot about me.

Maybe the thing that I’m learning the most is that my desire to grow my children’s faith is very much dependent on my faith.

So maybe my focus should be on my faith not theirs. I don’t mean that I neglect their faith in any way but rather that if I’m living my life for the LORD my children will definitely be positively impacted by that… their faith will be strengthened and grow as they watch me live for Him. And God will use everything in their lives to teach them about Him… including my faith.

And the latter half of that verse – and great shall be the peace of your children – wow! Great peace for my children!?! How could I not want that with a passion? I’d love peace for everyone! Seriously everyone, but honestly for my children the most. I wish so desperately for peace… I see so much turmoil in them at times. There is no way that I can relieve it – only God can. I’m learning that. I think I might be a very slow learner though.

I’m learning a lot lately about who God wants me to be. And in this situation I believe He wants me to be a trusting Momma. A momma that recognizes that my children are in His hands… not mind. So I’m going to release my grip on my kids and hold more firmly to Him.

And as always, I’m going to pray for the faith of my children.

[verse reference=”Psalm 63:8″]My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.[/verse]