Precious Cargo

Café Menu for Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Today’s Special is: God Loves Our Children More Than We Do

Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Dana Pittman.

Main Ingredient: “…Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD…” 1 Chronicles 29:11 (NLT)

Entrée:

My daughter had a quick temper. She would go from easy breezy to blowing a fuse in seconds. This bothered us as her parents. But I could recall times even when she was a baby that she would bully her brothers

We thought, “it’s her being the little sister”. But as time continued we knew something had to change. We tried and tried. We punished and grounded. She’d do better but then like the times before she’d get really angry at her brother.

I started praying away her anger. I pray for my children but I never quite prayed for a specific situation like that one. I added her to our prayer list at church, as well.

I made the decision to pray it away after one day her coming to me and saying…”Mom, I don’t know why I get so angry.” It hurt my heart and I knew I needed help from upstairs.

I began to pray. During my quiet time the Holy Spirit said “Show her…”

You see, I’m not the world’s best prayer. So to help me along I pull scriptures and pray them over the person and/or situation. I’ve found over the years it helps and I believe it’s most powerful to pray God’s word.

One morning I sat with my daughter and we went over three passages concerning anger. She became excited about reading them. When we read Psalm 4:4, I noticed a breakthrough: “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” (Psalm 4:4)

Then she said, “Mom, wait, so this means he was already angry.”

My response, “Yes, honey.” She recognized in the passage he was angry. But that he also had a choice in how he responded.

We continued studying over the scriptures as she asked questions for nearly an hour. It is probably the most important bible study of my life. In the end, she grabbed her bible and bounced away excited.

I felt my heart cry in submission to God. He’d answered my prayer. I knew she really got it. Then I got a brilliant idea. I would write the scriptures on an index card and ask her to place them in her bible.

As I worked on the card she knocked on my office door, I beckoned her in.

“Look Mom” she said. In her hand was an index card. On it she summarized the scriptures we read.

I learned something valuable as a parent and a believer through that experience:

1. God loves my child more than I do. We love our children but God loves them more.

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 (NLT)

2. God’s truth is liberating. The truth is the truth. God’s truth can free us from all bondage.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 (NIV)

3. Our walk with God is our own. We learned something valuable that day. My daughter and I recognized her walk with God is her own. She felt liberated in having a sense of awareness that God was with her supporting her.

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Take Out: What does your child struggle with? Spend some time this morning meditating on this and ask God to reveal three important scriptures for you. Write these out on an index card. Whenever your child’s struggle presents itself, calmly and lovingly recite one of those verses to both of you.

Dessert: Father, we come before You to surrender our will to Yours. We pray for our children as they enter a new school year. We pray they grow in awareness of You and thrive in their new classrooms. We pray for their teachers, schools, and school administration that they will recognize the unique light You’ve placed in each one of our children. And that they strive to ignite it. We pray as parents that we will honor Your role in our lives by sharing Your love with our very precious cargo, which You’ve placed in our care. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

For more encouragement, visit Dana at her blog Dana Pittman, where she writes to inspire, educate, and encourage women to LIVE.

Are you craving MORE? Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Click here for Extreme Encouragement: and five life-changing steps to living with the peace of Christ.