The scripture for today, January 28, is 1st Chronicles 1:28 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.”
Are you a parent with a grown or nearly-grown child who is going in the wrong direction? Have you tried everything you can think of, and nothing is working? Do you know in your heart that you have been a good example and things shouldn’t have turned out as they have?
Abraham has been called the Father of the Faithful. Yet he had one son who followed Jehovah ~ Isaac ~ and one son who followed idols ~ Ishmael. Certainly, Abraham tried everything he could to “talk some sense” into Ishmael. Certainly, he prayed earnestly for Ishmael. So what went wrong?
Just as God has given each of us free will, our children also have free will. Just as God will never force us to follow him, we cannot force our children to follow God. You did not refrain from having your children because they may have difficulties in their life, and neither did God. And when our children rebel and break our hearts, imagine what God goes through when we rebel and break his heart.
Who knows? Perhaps your child will return to God some day in your old age, or even after you have died. If your child deep down has a good heart, that is enough for God to work with. Keep hope alive.
#Children, #FreeWill, #Families, #Adolescence, #Astray, #Hope, #Teaching, #Training, #BrokenHeart, #GodsHeart
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