Who does he look like?
It was the most frequently asked question after the birth of my son. Some saw my nose. Others noted his father’s chin. He had jet black hair just like all my grandma’s babies…
When I look at my boys, I tend to see extensions of myself. They are my boys. I love them more than my own life because they are mine.
“Every good and perfect gift comes down from above.” James 1:17
“Children are a heritage from the Lord.” Psalm 127:3
“For him and through him and for him are all things.” Romans 11:36
These verses tell me something profound. When I look at my children, I should see not my children, but God’s children. He trusted me and my husband with the amazing privilege of raising children He loved first.
Ever had another mother parent your kids? It’s annoying and threatening when another person steps between you and your baby and suggests your child (and you by association) have done something wrong. Yet that’s what God lets us do as moms. He trusts us to intervene in His parenting.
We get frustrated with His children.
We yell at His children.
We fail to discipline His children.
“Children, obey your parents,” God says. But how often do we allow His children to disobey that command because disciplining consistently and well is SO much work?
We yell at them because they won’t obey as a way of scaring them into submission.
How happy would we be if a trusted adult let our child run out into traffic because it would be inconvenient to stop him?
What words would we have for the person who dared correct our child with a raised voice?
It’s a heavy responsibility we have as parents, and a perspective we so easily loose sight of. Thankfully, God didn't leave us poorly equipped to raise his children. It seems that way sometimes. He drops these “treasures” in our laps then removes himself to watch from afar as we muddle through projectile vomit, sleep deprivation, terrible twos, first days at school, drivers ed, and puberty.
But He didn’t ask us to do this alone. In fact, he knew we couldn’t, and his greatest desire is that we turn to him in the millions of helpless moments.
No more comforting words have ever been scrawled across the page for parents than the ones in James chapter one: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
Did you catch the line “without finding fault?” What a release! Our generous heavenly Father is not up there taking notes on our less than stellar parenting moments. Rather, He is waiting eagerly to be invited to help us out. And He won’t be holding our mistakes against us.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
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