Midweek: "You Will Be Haunted by Three Spirits..." (2010)

Happy Wednesday! When I wrote the following article in 2010, we were dealing with some interfamily issues, big problems with our little people. Time has passed, we are of an older demographic, but several of our friends are dealing with big problems with their big people. Some adult children have cast their parents aside, refusing to let them see grandchildren or have any sort of relationship whatsoever, because of "childhood trauma" --godly discipline or parents' failure to indulge their child's every whim. Some parents are aching from the pain of their adult children's addiction. Some are watching their children follow a path that does not include God or perverts His Scriptures.

In 2010, I began this article with a passage from Isaiah, but I'd like to include another that has been of great comfort to me since. I pray it often for our children:

Isaiah 49:25 

But thus says the LORD:

“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,

And the prey of the terrible be delivered;

For I will contend with him who contends with you,

And I will save your children.

~~~~~~~~~~

Isaiah 32:3-8

 "Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

 The fearful heart will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

 No longer will the fool be called noble

nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

 For fools speak folly,

their hearts are bent on evil:

They practice ungodliness

and spread error concerning the LORD;

the hungry they leave empty

and from the thirsty they withhold water.

 Scoundrels use wicked methods,

they make up evil schemes

to destroy the poor with lies,

even when the plea of the needy is just.

 But the noble make noble plans,

and by noble deeds they stand."

As parents, what do we do when our child is being hoodwinked? Human nature urges, "Confront that liar and give him a piece of your mind!" -- or worse, your foot. Mom counsels, "Slow and steady wins the race. Just keep talking to him; you stay on the straight and narrow, and your child will too." The voice of Experience kibitzes, "It's deja vu all over again!" (Sometimes the little Jewish woman who lives inside my head sounds a lot like Yogi Berra.) Scott suggests, "We need the ghost of Marley to summon the spirits and show her what is really going on; to float her over there so she can see what is really being said."  Wouldn't that be cool?   

I don't doubt, many of us have to deal with an irresponsible relative who makes your child all manner of promises they have no intention of keeping. Or an ex who, motivated by sheer spite, deceives or coerces a child into abandoning those things -- or people -- he truly loves? Or a child who is so spoiled rotten by others, only you (or so it feels) are left to be the heavy, the tightwad, the funsucker? Will they ever see the forest for the trees?  God says, "Yes."

God is a God of justice, especially when it comes to people who lead His children astray or do them harm. God has hand selected you, the parent for His child, to do what is best for them. If you are walking with God, seeking His will and praying for wisdom -- for yourself and your child -- He will not let you down. What comfort we can take in His promises to us!