Fewer things in life have taught me about the Christian life and sanctification than parenthood. 

Growing up in the church, I was no stranger to passages that taught and used the relationship between a parent and child as figurative and used to articulate an analogy that helps us grasp the greater picture of whatever the passage is trying to communicate. I had heard them and even read them all by a very young age, I am sure of it. However, to hear something and to listen to something in a way that you understand are two very different things. 

As of today, I have 3 children. I have a 3-year-old, an almost-two-year-old, and a blob-like 5-month-old; she barely does anything outside of sleeping, pooping, and eating, sprinkled with what some would classify as “playtime” and general curiosity. This task, this job, being a parent, is easily the most difficult thing I have ever endeavored to do. What I am about to say may sound very concerning, but please note that it will be merely descriptive and not prescriptive, as in I do not prescribe or identify with the following sentence, but I will say it anyway: I understand why some people leave their families and run away. There. I said it. Again, to reiterate, this is NEVER okay, and when you start a family, whether on purpose or unexpectedly, you now have a responsibility. If you were mature enough to come together with someone and commit the act it requires to procreate, you are now involved, whether you like it or not. 

Thankfully, by God’s grace, I have been able to receive, and enjoy, and embrace, and learn of the unique and unmatched rewarding experience of being a parent. I feel the hardships. They are truly the most difficult times of my life. And having kids simply complicates EVERYTHING in small and large ways, but it indeed DOES complicate everything. 

Brushing teeth, bath time, dressing up for the day, pooping, peeing, eating, drinking, rolling over, crawling, walking, running, jumping, crying, screaming, learning, relaxing, playing, leaving the house, going out to eat at a restaurant, vacationing, and everything in between; it is all complicated, and almost nothing is simple, though I would dare to say NOTHING is simple about being a parent. But NOTHING is quite as sanctifying as parenthood. 

The way we learn spiritually and depend on our Heavenly Father is exactly identical to how we learn as infants growing in physical, mental, and emotional ways, dependent on our parent/guardian here on earth. The rebellion I face from my children is the same rebellion God is faced with on daily bases with me. When I tell me son it’s time to do something that is for his good but is something he sees no value in, he completely loses it. His emotional compass goes everywhere. Up, down, North, South, East, West, and all the rest! Is this not how we are with God? Our first reaction is rebellion. We fight. We kick. We scream. Even though we know and trust God will certainly deliver us, protect us, provide for us, and keep us until the day of His return or when He calls us home, we are no different from the Israelites who were punished and walked in circles for 40 years due to their hard-heartedness. 

Just yesterday, I corrected my son from doing something that would be sure to cause him great harm, and how did he repay me? I was met with kicking, physical retaliation, screaming, and yes, of course, the inevitable crying ensued. Being as though God has shown me and demonstrated to me the unique and beautiful relationship between parents and their children and God with His children, the amount of patience and grace I exercise with my children has changed dramatically. If I were not there, they would surely die. Seriously. They really would. And where are we without God? Dead in our sin and trespasses. 

Parent’s- 

Next time you are about to completely lose your cool and act out in an aggressive or overstimulated way, think of the amount of love, grace, patience, mercy, compassion, and tenderness God, our Heavenly Father, has spent on you. And like unfaithful children, we surely stray. We surely make mistakes. We surely reject and rebel against His word and design. Yet God, through His love and great mercy, exercises grace because of the finished and complete work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and we are therefore brought near. 

Just as I bring my son near to me when he fails and commits a horrible mistake and let him know I still love him, followed by a warm kiss on his forehead, so does our Heavenly Father bring us near through the sweetness of Jesus Christ. 

Amen.

(Matt 6:9; Eph 2:13; Num 32:13; 1 Jn 3:1; Ps 103:13; Heb 12:7; Matt 7:9-11; Deut 1:29-31; Rom 5:20-21)