Today’s Bible readings are Judges 13:1-14:20, John 1:29-51, Psalm 102:1-28, & Proverbs 14:15-16
Judges 13:8-12
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord, please let the man
of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son
who is to be born.”
9 God answered Manoah’s prayer, and the
angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field.
But her husband, Manoah, was not with her. 10 So she quickly
ran and told her husband, “The man who appeared to me the other day is here
again!”
11 Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, “Are you the man
who spoke to my wife the other day?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I am.”
12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words come true, what
kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work?”
Parenting is not an easy thing to do. Most parents have no
clue when we first get started. We have a bunch of different people trying to
tell us what we should & shouldn’t do. Yet, we soon find out that our child
may be different than other kids. They may respond different to the way we are
trying to instruct them. It can leave a person scratching their head wondering
if they will ever get it right.
I have 6 children. Each one of them is different. We have
noticed that certain forms of instruction work well with certain kids but not
with others. It can be very frustrating at times. There have been moments when
we have thought we were never going to figure out how to teach certain things
that needed to be taught. There have been other times when we didn’t even know
exactly what we were supposed to be teaching to help our kids in the areas that
they were struggling with.
I find courage in the father of Samson. He was a man much
like me. Manoah didn’t have a clue about being a dad. He wanted to raise his
son well. He wanted to make sure that his son fulfilled the call that was on
his life. Yet, he didn’t know what to do to ensure that this would happen.
I have been there. I know that God has a plan & a
purpose for each of our children. I can see that call on them. Yet, there are
days when I don’t know what I need to do to help them notice & respond to
that call. It has left me feeling confused & discouraged many times.
As parents, we can spend a lot of time stuck in these
moments of life. There is a solution. It is the path that Manoah shows us. He
cried out to God to instruct him how to raise his son. He didn’t know what kind
of rules to implement. He didn’t know what values to stress the most. He had no
experience. He was new at this. Yet, he knew that God was the greatest Father
ever & He was there to help.
Manoah cried out to the Lord for help. In a matter of time,
the Lord came & spoke to him. The Lord gave him instructions on how to
raise Samson. They were very specific instructions that were for Samson alone.
Those instructions helped Samson understand his anointing & call. It opened
up a door for the Lord to begin to stir him.
This is always the best thing that we can do as parents. If
we can turn our ear to the Holy Spirit & wait for Him to instruct us we
will succeed as parents. He will speak to us about those things that baffle us.
He will show us how to call out the gifts that are in our children. He will
teach us what is the best way to raise each individual child that has been
entrusted to our care. As we follow His instructions, we will put our children
in a much greater opportunity to hear from God for themselves & accept His
call. This is the goal & hope of every born again parent.
I know it seems like we always come back to this same point,
but that is because it matters so much; THE
ANSWER WAITS IN PRAYER.
1. It is through prayer that we get the words that we need to better equip us.
2. It is through prayer that we get answers.
3. It is through prayer that we bear our heart to God.
4. It is through prayer that God bears His heart to us.
Never forget that even in the everyday things of life,
parenting for instance, the Holy Spirit wants to lead. We give Him permission
to do so as we ask for His help. This all starts with us going to the place of
prayer.
Make sure to check in with God when you don’t know what to
do. He always knows what is best. He is always ready to teach us if we will
just ask.
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