A God-Sized Task

Maybe you’ve got the raging temper of a drill sergeant. The tongue of a seasoned sailor. The wisdom of a child. The faith of a gnat.

How in the world are your children supposed to find Jesus in this mess?

Yet God has entrusted these kids to you, fully knowing all your weaknesses. He has given you this charge, these little people to raise. He has placed you, with all your imperfections, in authority over them.

But he has not left you alone to figure it out by yourself. You have his Word and his church. And he is not expecting that your perfection will save your children. As Leslie Leyland Fields writes: “We never replace Jesus in our children’s lives.… We do the work of parents, which is to point our children to Jesus. And then Jesus does his own work—with or without us.” Our children grow from followers of us to fellow sojourners with us.

We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (CEV)

The Lord desires and delights in our best efforts to be godly parents, but it is not about us in the end. It is him at work in those little ones, just as it is him at work in us. We hold this treasure. He gets the glory. Our successes are not to our credit alone. Our failures are not insurmountable.

So do your best. Keep repenting. Ask for God’s power to fill and transform you. Then rest. Trust the Lord and his mighty power that melts the hardest hearts; turns ashes into beauty; and redeems lost times, lost opportunities, and lost causes.

Pray

Thank you, Lord, for being with me in this task. I am so unqualified. You are everything we need. Thank you for these beautiful children and help me do my best to lead them to you. Amen.

Time to Talk

Conversation starter for kids: Provides you with questions and prompts to facilitate a time of applicable discussion with children to lead them towards knowing God and His Word more deeply.

Question(s): Do you think you have to be perfect for God to use you?

Keep It Going

Related passages: These additional verses will help parents expand Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Swipe to read the passages today.

1 Corinthians 2:3-5

2 Corinthians 12:9-10