Last night we sat with one of our children who made some poor choices yesterday. We talked with him, prayed with him and watched his tears fall as he realized the consequences of his actions. It was hard. I looked at him sitting in that chair with his head down, no longer a toddler that I could scoop up in my arms but a half grown boy with gel in his hair and peach fuzz on his lip.
We talked to him about the importance of making the right choices. We talked to him about being a leader and not a follower. We talked to him about how consequences grow bigger as little boys become big boys. We talked to him about the purpose God created him for. We talked a lot. And he listened.
And then, in great frustration he expressed that God doesn’t speak to him. He was wondering out loud if God even hears him.
So, we asked questions. “Tonight, when you made the wrong choice, did you know it was wrong?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I didn’t even have much fun because I knew it was wrong.”
There it is. The voice of the Holy Spirit. I looked at him and said, “God did speak to you, Son, that was God telling you that you were making the wrong choice!”
How often do we feel discouraged because we think God isn’t speaking to us? How often is it that we just don’t hear His voice because we don’t like what He has to say? How often do we shut out the still small voice of God because we desire something from the world?
God help us to hear you, even when we don’t like what you’re saying.
This parenting thing is tough. Sometimes it leaves me feeling mentally exhausted and physically defeated. The sun is rising on a new, full day of parenting, so I’ll get up, get dressed and prepare for another day of training hearts and minds to love Jesus.