ur little battles with our teenagers only turn
into bigger battles when we will try to handle the problem
ourselves instead of giving it completely over to God.
Since our Creator is not a foolish God, we can not give
Him 90% of our problems and expect God to take over.
He knows
that you will take the remaining 10% that you still have
control of and mess everything back up all over again, and make
it even worst than it was before! Your blessings start when you give
Him 100% of your problems.
Why does God allow adversity
to happen?
As a
parent, I have been there many times trying to work things out when
communication breaks down with my teenager. I learned that I could
win the battle but I will lose the war. The war of respect, where my
daughter would stop coming to me for parental advice to
help her pave the road for her to be continually blessed by the
choices that she makes.
I learned that
if I just try to understand her opinion and point of view with
the same respect that I was expecting, that our teenager will
have the spirit of cooperation to want to work things out.
If we as
parents are truly and totally honest with ourselves, when
communication breaks down with our children and we don't feel were
getting the respect that we deserve. Sometimes we react from a place
of hurt and we say things that escalate the problem even worst.
Then we try to
use the timeless heartfelt phrases that our parents have passed down
to us, like "as long as your living under my roof you will do blah
blah blah...." the problem with this "meet force with force
mentality" is that we are simply putting a bandaid on the wound and
we think that we have worked things out with our teenagers when in
truth we never worked nothing out except to enforce the desire in
our children's heart that they can't wait until they leave
home.
I found out
the hard way that I could not resolve this problem by myself,
because I loved my teenager so much and when our words got out of
hand, that I was saying things from a place of hurt, like; "I don't
care if you leave" Words that I could not take back, because if she
did leave because of the hurtful things I said, that I would rather
die than to see us both seperated from each other's love.
"Fathers do not
embitter your children, or they will become discouraged." Colossians
3:21
As I literally
felt my heart break from my prideful words, It was then
that I truly understood what the Bible's true definition
of what Hell really was, it wasent just a place of fire and
brimstone but a total seperation from our Heavenly Father's
love.
"There is no power
but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." Romans
13:1
So I got on my
knees and with total humility I told God that I don't have the
answers to this problem without His help. That I am ready to
give Him 100% of my trust, and I know that He will turn
this overwhelming problem into a great blessing that will forever
bond the love and respect between my teenager and me.
Then I
realized that if I truly gave God 100% of my trust that He will mend
our broken hearts.
Then I
will should have the faith to
believe...
That it is
God that will make our crooked paths straight,
That it is God
who will triumph over every adversity and remove any obstacle before
us,
That it is God
that will bless us and show favor to us,
That it is God
that will make sure that no weapon can ever prosper against me or my
loved ones,
I told God
that I not only trust Him with all my heart, but that I trust Him to
take care of my princess.
I told God that I know that the
simple truth is that she is more His daughter than she is mine,
that our very spirit and soul belongs to Him, that I am simply
a father who God has entrusted as a stewart to guide her and nuture
her spirit so when that blessed day comes when she is ready to
go out into the world to find her purpose.
"Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust." Psalm
40:4
Then I started
to understand that it is a parent's purpose not to worry and be
afraid for our children's future.
That God is
not the author of fear but of faith and hope.
That we should
always turn to God first in all things.
And not wait
till we really mess things up.
Why should we
always turn to God first?
"Everything
comes from God alone, Everything lives by his power, and everything
is for his glory." Romans 11:36 LB
If
everything is for God's glory, how can we say to all
others that we put our trust in the Lord, if we don't pray to God first so that we
can glorify Him for answering our
prayers.
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is
God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
NIV
