Father's Day

Howard Hendricks called children, “God’s little spies.” I don’t totally know what he meant by that, but I’ve thought that it at least includes the truth that children are a major tool in God’s hands to test us as parents. Through their differences as individuals, through the incredible joy they bring and through their foolishness and various kinds of behaviors God will:

Test your character. You’ll never know how impatient you are until you have children. Your challenge as a parent will always be to love them -- unconditionally over and over – even when they don’t meet your expectations and certainly as they get older -- even they disappoint you. Your challenge will be to treat them as God has treated you – in love, forgiveness, grace and kindness, again and again, showing them God’s character.

Test your perseverance. At times you’ll want to beat them, give up on them, put them down and show them you’re bigger and smarter (which will only exasperate them). But God’s test to you in those times will be – can you hold back… can you keep still…. and again, will you love them anyway?

Test your faith. You will repeatedly need to trust God to work in their lives – sometimes it will be through you – but very often it will be directly – through His Spirit. That means, you won’t be able to always direct them, certainly not always rescue them, or always get them to do what you want them to do. But God, in mercy, grace, love and His own discipline -- can and will work in their lives. Ultimately, your role will be to entrust them to Him, to pray for them and to always demonstrate to them that the One you follow is the God of all grace.