Our Children Will Lead
We live in scary times; kidnappings, killings and all sorts of horrific things taking place every day in our schools, malls, churches and communities. I’m scared to go to the mall or a movie theater with my son or husband not knowing if we will be caught in a mass shooting or horrendous scene.
Fear creeps into my mind when I hear of another tragedy in the news or from a friend. It almost seems logical to never go outside my front door for fear of a tragedy happening to my family or me. But, we can’t live in fear.
As I was reading about Jesus and the faith that He instilled with His disciples, I was inspired to view this scripture passage from the viewpoint of a parent sending their child into this terribly evil world. Jesus gave these instructions to His disciples: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road” (Luke 10:2-4 NLT).
Jesus loved His disciples as if they were His very own biological children. He cared about their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. He wanted to make sure they were taken care of and provided for, so why would He tell them to not take anything with them on their journey? Doesn’t that seem foolish? But, if you look deeper, Jesus was actually showing His disciples how to fully rely on God for ALL their needs, their direction and even the people who would house them in these cities. There was NOTHING God would not provide for them.
Secondly, Jesus wanted the disciples to use godly wisdom, discretion and unconditional love to influence people to repent of their sins and follow God’s ways. Though they were among “wolves” of wickedness during their time, Jesus wanted His disciples to be “lambs” of godliness during such terrifying circumstances. As parents, how much do we instill the characteristics of God into our children before sending them out into the world? How often do we pray over them and with them to exemplify the love of Christ before sending them out the door?
Lastly, Jesus also wanted to make sure His disciples did not get distracted before they got to their destination. He knew that even the smallest temptations or unnecessary relationships along the road could detain them from completing their mission and purpose. Just as Jesus told the disciples to guard their steps and paths, how often do we guard the eyes, ears and minds of our children from distractions that could trip their feet on God’s path? How often do we pray about their activities or friendships?
It would be so easy to shelter our children from this evil world, but that would be exactly what Satan would want us to do. Instead, God has given us these precious lives to be the great beacons of hope and love for this world to see Christ. It is our job to instill the faith of God and His character into their hearts so that we can send them on the path towards their God-given purpose.
We have the opportunity as parents to raise up future adults who will change this world for the better and though we are afraid of the unknown, we will trust God to take care of them even when we cannot walk with them. Let’s raise the children who will lead.
