Apples of Gold

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6

Continuing from last week’s blog we move on to consider what we can do when a loved one departs from the way of faith.

DON’T BE IMPRISONED BY SHAME

While raising your children if you escaped a toddler throwing a very public temper tantrum consider yourself blessed. Our scenario took place in Super Walmart! The looks you get as strangers assess your whole parental journey based on that traumatic moment. I remember that day clearly. I was mortified as I hastily retreated down the parental walk of shame.

Shame has a healthy side which can motivate us to avoid repeating the same mistakes; but at times we allow it to go too far and find ourselves imprisoned by its crushing burden. It can show up in places that it doesn’t belong and it can camouflage itself as conviction. It casts a shadow over our hearts and we draw back in uncertainty. Shame tries to dilute the power of divine forgiveness.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14

The Greek word for canceled is exaleipho. It means to anoint or wash in every part. To besmear-cover with whitewash or plaster. To wipe off, and my absolute favorite, to obliterate.

Let’s take this one step further:

Obliterate means to remove or destroy completely so as to leave no trace. To render invisible or unreadable. To remove completely.

When we allow confessed sin to immobilize us it is like purchasing an extended warranty on a vehicle that we no longer own. No penance required-the debt has been obliterated! Drown your doubts in the words God has spoken.

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame. Isaiah 50:7

DON’T DOUBT GOD IN THE PAIN

Serious pain, especially ongoing pain, can cause us to go into protection mode. Make it stop! The immediate reaction to stepping on a lego block is the desire to burn every block in the house, never to be played with again. This reflex crosses over into the spiritual realm as well. When our prayers seem unanswered and the trial lingers the danger of becoming bitter towards our God is very real. The old adage: Trials will make you bitter or better, is a time-tested truth. 

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:5

Our loving Father understands our tendency to get frustrated and bitter in the extended season of testing. When things are not turning out as planned it is vital that we determine to trust God rather than blame him. He has promised to care for us and to work everything out for good. He did not however, promise to explain everything to us and get our approval. 

Oh how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? Romans 11:33-34

Well, certainly not me! My field of vision is so limited while God sees the end from the beginning, and he is working an intricate plan that involves not only me and my family but everyone around me as well. When we determine to believe God is who he says he is we can also determine to believe that he is doing what is best even when it looks like the opposite. Trust him in the dark!

My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. Says the LORD. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Satisfaction is only guaranteed when our lives are deeply rooted in God and we have built a relationship of trust that holds steady through the best of times as well as the worst of times. Carefully guard your heart when you are in deep waters. Things might get bumpy, but he will never leave your side. He is for you

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3