I thought it was my job to protect my children.
Shouldn’t I, as their mother, do my best to prevent them from experiencing struggles, disappointments and heartaches? After all, no parent wants their child to hurt.
But we live in a fallen, sin-scraped world. They are going to experience trials. If we attempt to protect them from hardships their entire lives – they will be left defenseless once we are gone and they have to navigate this world on their own.
The truth of the matter is…If our sole focus is to protect our children, we have failed to prepare them.
They need to be prepared for the long, often difficult, journey that is to be theirs as a Christ- follower. That road of obedience that lies ahead is rarely an easy one.
Our children need to know that there will come a day when something terrible happens and, in that moment, God is still good. We, as parents, need to prepare them to do the hard thing…to follow hard after God with everything they have in them.
Overprotecting our children prevents them from the blessing of knowing where to turn when things get rough.
If your family is experiencing a significant change let your children experience it with you. Help them handle the difficult parts of change but, more importantly, help them see the adventure that can be had when they decide to follow God wholeheartedly. Life is about change. Prepare them.
Is someone close to the family ill? Help them through it by praying with them for that person. They don’t need to know every detail, but they will be able to see your dependence on God in this midst of difficulty. They will, at some point, experience an illness of their own or of someone they care about. Prepare them.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. – 3 John 4
We want our children to walk in the truth. For them to do so, however, we must do more than protect them. We must prepare them.
