Early this morning the Sun passed directly over the equator on its journey towards the Tropic of Cancer. Most of us did not stop to think or be thankful for this particular demonstration of God’s care. The reality is that he will be faithful whether he is asked to be or not. Because God is who he is, he can’t be anything but faithful to his promise he made to Noah thousands of years ago and to all of his promises.
In our human interactions we are accustomed to unfaithfulness on many levels. Politicians throughout history have earned the reputation of being unfaithful to their promises. Relationships are remarkable because unfaithfulness is more common than faithfulness. So, doubt tends to creep in when God makes a promise; will he really do what he says he will do? But God is not like me or you or politicians. God always keeps his word!
Don’t miss days like today to tell your children of God’s faithfulness. The seasons will endure. He does forgive our sins. He can be trusted. Heaven is not a carrot dangling in front of our noses to make us behave.
Your children need your steady dependence on God. They need you to faithfully call them to obey with pleasant words and consistent, compassionate discipline. They need to see that you will not waver and lose focus and resort to frustration and anger as you parent. They need to see that you are confident of God’s faithfulness, because exasperation with your children is also exasperation with God. They need to see that you are not dominated by worry otherwise you are teaching your children that God is not someone who can be trusted to be faithful.
In short, as a parent, you must dare to hope in the faithfulness of God. His mercies are new every morning. It is the firm belief in this faithfulness that will bring stability to your parenting.
Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
Lamentations 3:21-24