Have you ever heard one of these? “Put your money where your mouth is!” Or, “That’s where the rubber really meets the road!” Or a personal favorite, “Your talk talks. Your walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks!” What all of these have in common is obvious. Sometimes many say they are going to do something, but few actually end up following through when the stakes are at their highest.
For my wife and I as new parents, one of our greatest joys is to love, train, and observe our daughter as she grows, changes, and matures. A child can make you laugh, they can take away the sting of a hard day, and by their brutal honesty can even teach us a thing or two. We love our children. We want the best for them. We want to lavish them with love and affection. We want success for them.
“Success” is an open term. If you ask ten people what it means you will probably get ten different answers. One of the best definitions of “success” that I have ever heard is, “Success is finding the will of God and doing it!” I have to admit that when we look at that definition through the lenses of parenting it is a tough one to swallow at first. That means that as I parent, I have to trust God to my fullest knowing that He has the best plan for my child. That means if it is His will for her to live on the other side of the planet with some guy who dares to marry her and take her away from us, I have to accept it because, after all, she does belong to God first. When God says, “Yours is who I have called,” we should remember some very important truths from scripture.
In Genesis 22:8, when God asked Abraham for his son, his faith was unwavering as he told his son, “God will provide.” When we surrender our children to God’s will, we need to remember that God will provide protection, grace, comfort, blessings, and you can fill in the blanks with anything because God is capable of provision!
How about in I Samuel when Hannah surrendered Samuel? That passage didn’t mean as much to me until I became a dad. Now the implications are massive. She knew that her child belonged to God first. She knew that success was not confined to financial and educational security, but success was pleasing and glorifying God.
God has given us as parents emotions for our children. So much emotion, that He even illustrates His love for us by reminding us of our love for our children. In reality, no parent can say that relinquishing the futures of our kids to the Lord is easy, but we know that it is safe and right. We know that it demonstrates to our kids worship and faith. We just need to realize that it is the utmost example of “when the rubber meets the road,” and when God says, “YOURS!” – How loud will your walk talk by stepping out of the way and purposing to help your kids find God’s success for their lives?
