Preparing For The Inevitable

No matter how tough we can appear to others, we all have something that can send cold chills down our spine. For me, the fears of childhood pale in comparison to the fears of parenthood. Being responsible for raising a child and protecting them, teaching them and directing them is a huge responsibility. As my kids reached the age where they were venturing off into adulthood, I recall thinking, “I wonder if I have covered everything that they need to know in order to make wise choices out there.”

There truly are so many things that can happen. The world is not a safe place. People are not always who they claim to be. Illness and accidents happen. There are injustices that can alter the course of your life. In these areas we have very little control.

Here is the bottom line: we live until we die. That is all we can know with certainty.

So if the only thing that is certain is death, and we as God followers believe in the eternal life that Jesus promised, how are we preparing them for the inevitable?  

We run ourselves ragged to every practice to make sure that our child is able to compete. We are on their case about getting their assignments in so they will be on the honor roll. We ground them and restrict them and punish them in order to curb the bad choices and redirect them. We work hard to build responsible adults. But what are we doing to prepare them to recognize the still small voice of God? How will they be prepared to hear and understand His direction in their lives?

I have some good news for you today. You don’t have to be a perfect parent for your children to find God. You don’t have to be a Super-Christian for them to make it to heaven. God does a pretty good job of filling in where we are weakest, when our heart’s desire is to follow Him. God’s grace is far beyond my comprehension. I can’t fathom a love so strong or an understanding so deep. But the more I know Him, the more I believe that His desire to unite with us is unimaginably strong.

When I meet Him face to face, I really do want to hear Him say, “Well done.” I want my kids and my grandkids to hear it, too. And I want to spend the rest of my days, however many there may be, knowing the voice of God so that I can follow Him more closely. I want to follow so closely that those who follow me will see Him, too. I want to make Him known through my attitudes and my choices and my words and deeds. I want it to be obvious that I am not living for ME, but for HIM. I want to leave this world with no regrets about how I spent my days or whether my goals were appropriate.

Will you join me on my quest? Will you make sure that in all the good things you do for your children, you won’t neglect to point to the God who made them for a purpose? We cannot make the decision for them and we don’t know when the Spirit will call them to Him, but we can do a whole lot to help them recognize His voice as we raise them with grace and peace and wisdom and the knowledge of an Awesome God.

Death is not the enemy. It’s the door to eternity. Preparing them for that door is the best way to parent and when we understand that, it can minimize all the fears of living in this broken world.