Raising Kingdom Kids
Confidence God’s Way – Part 1
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 17:32-37
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 17:37a
“The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Most first-time parents are filled with fear once they get home with their new bundle of joy, especially when that little one has its first fever. Suddenly, without the aid of the hospital nurse by their side, these parents normally are scared that something terrible has happed to their little one.
During those days, parents often mistakenly think that the fears will diminish when their little infant gets old enough to tell them what is wrong. However, each stage of their lives brings new levels of fear. We are all aware of what a scary world we live in and the dangers to kids are everywhere we look. These fears can become oppressive if we don’t learn to rely on God’s promises. When our parenting fears become oppressive, our parenting itself becomes oppressive. God is not able to do the work He wants to do in our kids’ lives if we allow our fears to control our parenting decisions.
How do we get control of fear and not allow it to control our lives in our parenting or any other area of our lives? Our scripture today tells the story of the Israelite soldiers being taunted by fear of Goliath, the Philistine giant. Here comes David, a small-framed teenager that had been a shepherd up to this point. He boldly offered to go fight this giant of a soldier. How did David not fear Goliath? Note what David said in our key verse: “The Lord who rescued me from… .” David was remembering how God had given him victory over previous fears. Parents don’t forget, as you face the fears of parenting, God is still a powerful ally to help you!
Father, you have always been faithful, I will trust you now in these new circumstances. In Jesus’ Name, amen.