Pastor’s Perspective 01-19-2021

It is no secret that the challenges facing our country today are great. While some may say we’ve been here before and we’ll get through this, others are not so sure. Gaye and I have reared three wonderful children who I believe are grounded in their faith and prepared to face the challenges ahead. To be totally honest, it is my grandchildren’s future that weighs heavily on my heart at times. I want to share some internal dialogue among our children and their spouses on this very subject with the hope it will encourage you as it did me. I do not know the original author of the words that follow but they are both comforting and challenging.

Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your children because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be. God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they are in. Their life isn’t a coincidence or an accident. Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God. Train them up in the authority of His Word. Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control. Empower them to know they can change the world. Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it. Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they live because of God’s sovereign plan. He knew Daniel could handle the lions. He knew David could handle Goliath. He knew Esther could handle Haman. He knew Peter could handle persecution.

He knows that your child can handle whatever challenges they may face in their life. He created them specifically for it. Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent them. Teach them God’s love and to share it with everyone. Rise up to the challenge! Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers and Peters. God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world. He has an army He is raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth! Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this. And so were we.

See you Sunday! ~ John