Children – Isaiah 54:13
All your sons will be taught of the Lord; and the well-being of your sons will be great.
Many of us know the challenge of “letting go and letting God” complete His good work in our grown children. In our desperation for the Lord’s protection and blessings on them, we often fail to demonstrate living, active faith in the only One who can truly care for them.
The dichotomy is that while we may have an abiding faith in the Lord,[1] some of us feel an overriding need to supplement our fervent daily prayers for our children by demonstrating the opposite. We may bow before our Lord and pray, “O Lord, sovereign of the universe, we trust in Your sovereignty,†but we may as well add, “except with our children’s lives.â€
When our children come to us to discuss a problem, we find ourselves jumping in with solutions. As parents, we want to fix it, whatever it is, for our children. If our children share their plans and dreams, we feel compelled to give torrents of unsolicited advice and prodigious cautions about the potential pitfalls. We use every possible opportunity, real or imagined, to provide spiritual pearls of wisdom. How profound is our lack of confidence in God and how useless do we make ourselves as the Lord’s holy instruments in our children’s lives when we blatantly refuse to trust in the all-powerful, exceedingly loving, Creator and Ruler of the universe.[2] How deafening is our chatter as we drown out the Holy Spirit’s whisper, “Be still and know that the Lord is God.â€[3]
If you have been carrying the burden for your adult children’s spiritual welfare, let go and let God accomplish His holy purposes in their lives. Trust Him without reserve, for His loving-kindness is everlasting.[4] Know the relief and privilege of praying in faith for your sons and daughters, loving them, listening to them, encouraging them, and being available to them without bearing the weight of their every decision.
Rather than depending on yourself,
make the Lord your hope. Allow your
heart to rejoice in Him, for He is your help and shield, and He will honor your
faithfulness to wait for Him to accomplish His righteous purposes in your
children.[5] Rest in God’s promise
to work in and through them and to teach them, protect them, and provide for
them. Trust that He will make them steadfast,
delightful, alive, and beautiful, not because of what you have done, but
because of who He is and because of His love for His children.[6]
[1] Proverbs 3:5
[2] Colossians 1:16
[3] Psalm 46:10
[4] Psalm 136:1
[5] Psalm 33:20-21
[6] Hosea 14:5-6
