As Father's Day has just passed, the reality of parenthood draws near. In about six weeks, there will be another Normand in our family with the arrival of our daughter Phoebe. For the past eight months, Kattie and I have been searching out knowledge about good, biblical parenting, for that is where our responsibility lies. We have sought counsel in the Scriptures, joined a group of like-minded, believing parents at church whose desires are like ours, purchased several books ranging from childbirth and development to education to spiritual formation, talked to other wise friends who are likewise involved parents, all the while asking God to intervene in our lives throughout so that we can, by his grace alone, be effective parents who "raise our children in the way they should go." But we've also realized that we can never know enough. We will never arrive to a place that deems us perfect parents.
As I personally find myself inherently weak and fragile as a fallen man, the requirement for forgiveness and reconciliation to God is a daily necessity. It reaches far beyond a mere reading of a small piece of Scripture every morning in hopes that it will sustain me throughout a day potentially filled with fierce attempts to destroy my soul. The battles are mighty ones, worthy of a valiant fight. In the midst of all that goes on in the workplace, all the relationships that require my energy in the homeplace, and all the desires that God has for me out in the rest of the world, I find that it often clouds the simplicity of the Gospel. These are eternal things to which God has entrusted us, so I realize that I must continually be diligent to
"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for."
2 Corinthians 13:5-9
The more I live, the more I realize that this restoration that requires much prayer is something that I need each day. In order for me to be the man that God desires me to be, there must be a purging of the world that is in me, while the restoring reconciliation of the Gospel powerfully transforms me from day to day. Far too often, men become statistics because
"...the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."
Matthew 13:22b
And I am certainly not so naive to think that I am not susceptible to the same kind of worldly distraction that could potentially destroy everything of value in my life. Yet at the same time, my hope is anchored in the Gospel that defines hope. If Jesus can raise a man from the dead, make a blind man to see, release a woman from the bonds of prostitution, turn water into (really good) wine, and walk on water, then he can no doubt keep me as his own brother, a son of the One True God, forever.
Yet my responsibility remains. It remains because it depends - on the unwavering commitment that He has made with me, and those who came before me. Abraham was the "father of many nations." Why? Simply put, God made a covenant with him. And so, as the covenant was made with him, and I am an adopted descendant of his, it follows that I also am under that very covenant. This is why I must "work out my own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12), in my marriage, my parenthood, my workplace, my relationships, and my life in general.
"...for it is God who works in me, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
I welcome any sound advice and counsel for my wife and I, especially as we venture into the honorable journey of godly parenting.
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