Two weeks back, I wrote about believing the promises of God.
I asked myself: “What promise has God spoken to my spirit that I have simply discredited and dismissed?” It came to me that I have not believed for the redemption and blessing of my children.
I’ve often thought: “I have failed miserably as a mother. I am not the parent that my children need. I’m screwing things up so badly for them!”
Check out these verses:
The man that fears the Lord, that delights in His commandments, his seed will be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the upright will be blessed. Psalm 112:1-2
…Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed. Isaiah 61:9
…Your [children] will possess the gates of their enemies, and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Genesis 22:17b, 18
Isn’t this awesome?! These are promises that I can claim for my children.
What if, instead of discrediting the words of God, I would take hold of them and believe and pray these words into my children? What if I actually believed that my children will one day possess the gates of their enemies? What if I believed that my children will be mighty on the earth, that they will be known among the nations as the offspring whom the Lord has blessed? What if I believed that these children will finish their race well? What if?
How would my parenting differ?
I think, instead of wasting time on failure, I would repent, then speak life and redemption to myself and my children. It would change the world. For them. For me. For those around us.
I think, instead of being focused on the failures of my children, I would understand that they are just that: children. Learning how to navigate this great big world. I want our home to be a safe space in which to learn and make mistakes.
I think that I would not be alarmed at their brokenness.
I think that I would cease to gasp inwardly when they have been less than expected.
I think that there would be more grace, less law.
I think that there would be more love, less resentment.
I think that they would understand the love and grace of their Heavenly Father because I exemplify it so much in my own life.
I think that my children would run to their Father often because they’ve seen mama constantly running to the Father.
And I believe that they would finish their race well, because we serve a God whose name is Redeemer.
I believe that they will possess the gates of their enemies because mom and dad have tenaciously clung to the promises of God both for ourselves and them.
May we be people of faith, believing the promises of God for ourselves and for those around us.