My mind has been running in many different avenues as of late. So many thoughts! I really don't know where to begin. So, I will just grab at one thought and take off.
I was speaking with a young mother the other day and she was talking about how at times she can become quite flustered with her child. It's not that he is a bad kid, it's just that he is very stubborn and has a mind of his own. I can relate to that. I have a grandson just like this. This mother said that as a child she remembers being good and listening to her mother. She remembers being an obedient child in school, church, home, and away from home. So she really doesn't understand why she has a child like she does. Now don't get this mother wrong. She loves her son very much. What she means by this statement is, she has always heard that one usually gets they kind of child compared to what they were. Well, that is not so. This mother went on to say that she never did anything rebellious until she was of age and left home. Then the things she did brought no harm against anyone but herself. She broke no laws, except God's laws. She went on pouring her heart out to me and I listened.
I then told her my thoughts. I told her that though she may have been a good child while young, when she was old enough to leave home, she then became rebellious against her Heavenly Father. Maybe, through her son, God is relating to her how He has to deal with her attitude towards Him. I then asked her how many times did God have to ask her not to do certain things and yet she did them anyway? How many times did God ask her to come home and she refused? Is she now, even yet, still ignoring the voice of God in certain areas of her life, now that she has come back to Him? Is He still trying to get her attention and yet, she turns her ear and does not heed His voice? I asked her to really search her heart and ask herself if there is anything she is holding back from God? Is there anything that God is asking her to give up that she has not given up? Is there anything that God is asking her to do that she is not doing? If so, this is all a form of rebellion. She is acting just like her son. She began to understand what I was talking about. I do hope I was able to shed some light upon her heart that day. I know that it made me begin to search my own heart. For when I talk to others I also talk to myself.
If we want our children to obey us, we must obey our Heavenly Father. We are an example to our children in more ways than we know. Believe it or not, they know when we are NOT obeying the Word of God. Our children can feel the spirit of rebellion in us. So, when we let it control us, it will also control our children. So if you want obedient children, try being obedient to God and see what happens.
