“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Isaiah 55:10-13
God’s Word changes people dramatically. Oftentimes I try to overlook that fact and think that MY words/actions/ideas/etc… are the things that bring change. Paul David Trepp said it best by stating “God’s rain waters the roots of the heart, and the person’s life bursts forth with new fruitfulness.”
God may use me in this process, but His Word has the authority to cause change; I do not.
This idea is not new to me. But as I read it this week, I was convicted about how I view my family. I oftentimes view myself as the only agent who brings about change, conviction, peace, and safety. I try to control all circumstances so that one day my kids will have a vibrant relationship with Christ. I stop believing deep in my heart it is God who does the pursuing and the changing of people’s hearts and lives. Instead I focus on how good of an example I am or what I’m teaching them or how I’m training them or the million other things that I do. Yes, out of obedience to God’s word, I should “train up a child in the way he should go” and I should ” teach them (the Lord’s commands) diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” But teaching and training is different than controlling.
This week God has been revealing to me how I sometimes gray that line. Teaching and training result in God receiving glory for what He has done. Controlling results in me receiving glory for what I was able to manipulate. To God be the glory for all things.
Praying over my kids means releasing them to God and releasing my crazy control freak tendencies to our Father who is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” Ephesians 3:20.
Parenting reveals so much about my unbelief. I pray His grace reigns in this house as He continues to refine Brent and I and work mightily in our kids’ hearts. To God be the glory for all things.
Goals:
- Crazy Love has been a great book for our small group. It has resulted in great discussion. Will be reading chps. 6-7 this week.
- Still reading Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands. Didn’t get as much read as I wanted to this week, but will hopefully get caught up this next week. We’re taking a short road trip so I should be able to get some time to read.
- Almost done studying the book of Matthew and am going to continue in the Gospels and start Mark. I feel back in the swing of things and am so enjoying the morning time again! It only took me a month to convince myself again that morning time was awesome =)
- Need to clarify about the whole sugar thing…I’ve had some emails =) I’m drastically reducing my sugar intake. I’m not eliminating fruit or anything, just not eating sweets or white breads/pastas/rice or stuff like that. I do allow myself 1 cheat day a week so I can eat some sort of dessert. Although my hubby has been craving cookies a lot lately and is definitely not helping my quest to eliminate sugar! =)
- Computer boundaries are still going good. My productivity has gone way up as I continue to reduce the time I allow myself to be on a computer. And I’ll clarify this one as well. The kids and I use the computer throughout the day as a teaching tool. That’s not the boundaries I’m talking about. The boundary is for me and for how many times I check email, Facebook, twitter, etc… Those things definitely soak up my time and are saved for when the kids are napping.
