Tag: Doubt

Things Devoted to Destruction

On By cdyeagerwritesIn Children, Devotions, Fatherhood, ParentingLeave a comment

The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?  Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions.  That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.” – Joshua 7:10-12 (NIV)

Rooting out the things that cause us to sin is a process.  Israel had taken a long time to become the faithful followers God desired them to be, but when the geography changed, they lost faith.  In taking the devoted things they were essentially saying, “God is not enough for us.  God is not providing what we need.”  They decided to take their lives into their own hands.  This is the tension we all deal with as we grow in our relationship with God; what I want and what God wants.  As we are transformed more and more into the image of Christ, those two things start to look similar, but we need to remember that what God wants is the reference point.

As our children grow and mature, they will reach new ground – their geography will change – and their level of commitment to God’s wants is tested.  They will need us to be a Joshua for them in those new countries.  It is a short walk from faithful obedience to doubtful wandering.  When our children grow older and make friends and venture further into the world, they will be tempted with things devoted to destruction.  These things are destined to pass from existence.  They have no permanence or eternal value.  They have no power but what we imbue them with through our wants and desires.

It is left to us to teach our children to say “No” to devoted things; to reject the pull that things doomed to destruction have on us.  This does not mean that our children cannot have certain clothes or technology or money, but we need to do our best to make sure they do not have our children.  The people of Israel gave themselves over to devoted things – things devoted to destruction – and they lost the blessing of God.  If we are not there to call our children to truth, to holiness, to faithfulness, we leave them vulnerable to the pull of the world.

Whenever our children are treading into new territory, we need to be watchful for those things that might pull our children off track.  Not so much to protect them from those things, but to help our children see those things for what they are and help them make the right choices about those things.  God could have made a fire consume all of Jericho when the wall fell, but He didn’t.  He left it to the Israelites to destroy and put to death those things devoted to destruction.  We need to equip our children to face these temptations in order to help them overcome and be victorious.

Lord, help me remove the things devoted to destruction from having any influence on my life.  Teach me to be solely dependent on you.  Give me a heart that hungers for you and not the things of this world.  And help me speak these same truths into the ear and minds and hearts of my children when they face new territory.   Amen.

Overcoming Doubt

On By cdyeagerwritesIn Children, Devotions, Fatherhood, ParentingLeave a comment

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”

Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.  “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob–has appeared to you.” – Exodus 4:1-5 (NIV)

There are several moments I can recall from my childhood when a word of encouragement or wisdom or truth overcame my doubts.  Whether it was trying a new thing or overcoming a challenge in school, my mother or father would help me move beyond myself to what I could be.  I was able to experience so many things and learn more about myself, the world and the God who created us both.  They were doubt dispellers and truth tellers and I am eternally grateful.

Moses needed the great doubt dispeller and truth teller.  His experience in leaving Egypt had left him with several doubts: Would the Egyptians remember him with wrath or mercy?  Would the Israelites accept anyone from the royal family as their leader?  Would anyone listen to his message?  These doubts were so pervasive that they overcame the awe he had been filled with when he first encountered the burning bush.  In the face of God’s obvious presence, Moses needed a background check and a performance guarantee.

Our children are going to experience these moments of doubt and they will need a staff in their hands to help them overcome it.  Whether it is a memory verse, a meaningful saying, a picture, a physical object that represents something to them or just your presence, they will need something to remind themselves and others that they can be exactly who God created them to be.

But the enemy loves doubt.  He relishes the opportunity to plant weeds in our children’s hearts to crush dreams and choke their potential.  It is good to remember that the Aaron’s staff turned into a snake and consumed the snakes of the Egyptian priests.  In our children’s lives, we need to teach them that through Christ they are over-comers.

Lord, help me to be a doubt dispeller and a truth teller for my children.  Give me the words and tools I need to put a staff of confidence and boldness in their hands that is rooted in Your word and filled with Your presence.  Help me be an over-comer in my own life so that my children can see your victory at work.  Amen.

A Child Among the Reeds

On By cdyeagerwritesIn Children, Devotions, Fatherhood, ParentingLeave a comment

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. – Exodus 2:1-3 (NIV)

My wife and daughter recently had an opportunity to go on a mission’s trip to Mexico with our church.  It was an established ministry with a number of trips already behind them over the last several years.  There were several adults in the group and a number of safety measures were in place.  It was very difficult to let them go without any fear or anxiety, to trust that they would be safe, but it was clear that this was the direction God was moving our family.

Trusting our children to the river and the reeds, trusting them to the care of God, is not an easy discipline.  We sometimes get being responsible for our children mixed up with having control over their lives.  When Moses was placed among the reeds, he began a journey that changed the course of history.  It was only through his mother’s willingness to let him go that kept him alive and moved him closer to fulfilling God’s purposes.  I don’t know what his mother felt like.  I can’t put myself in her shoes.  But I remember what I felt like when my wife asked if our little girl could go with her to Mexico.

Those feelings of fear, anxiety and doubt revealed a weakness in me.  It uncovered a crack in the armor; I needed to learn more about trusting God.  Instead of responding with excitement at the opportunity for my daughter to experience ministry, I reacted with trepidation.  It took some time, prayer and the patience of my wife for me to finally work it out, and I hope I will be more prepared the next time I need to let one of my children go into a situation that causes me discomfort.

God gives us responsibility over our children, but our ability to trust them to God’s care is at the heart of that responsibility.  We need to be willing to let our children be the people God created them to be, and that may take them directions we aren’t comfortable with.  As a matter of preparation, we need to turn our children over to God each day.  We need to pray that our children will be sensitive to God’s call on their lives, even if that means going places that cause us stress.

Lord, help me to trust you with my children.  Give me the courage and humility to trust you with their future, no matter where that leads them.  Release me from my false sense of control.  Amen

Things Devoted to Destruction

On By cdyeagerwritesIn Children, Devotions, Fatherhood, ParentingLeave a comment

The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?  Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions.  That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.” – Joshua 7:10-12 (NIV)

Rooting out the things that cause us to sin is a process.  Israel had taken a long time to become the faithful followers God desired them to be, but when the geography changed, they lost faith.  In taking the devoted things they were essentially saying, “God is not enough for us.  God is not providing what we need.”  They decided to take their lives into their own hands.  This is the tension we all deal with as we grow in our relationship with God; what I want and what God wants.  As we are transformed more and more into the image of Christ, those two things start to look similar, but we need to remember that what God wants is the reference point.

As our children grow and mature, they will reach new ground – their geography will change – and their level of commitment to God’s wants is tested.  They will need us to be a Joshua for them in those new countries.  It is a short walk from faithful obedience to doubtful wandering.  When our children grow older and make friends and venture further into the world, they will be tempted with things devoted to destruction.  These things are destined to pass from existence.  They have no permanence or eternal value.  They have no power but what we imbue them with through our wants and desires.

It is left to us to teach our children to say “No” to devoted things; to reject the pull that things doomed to destruction have on us.  This does not mean that our children cannot have certain clothes or technology or money, but we need to do our best to make sure they do not have our children.  The people of Israel gave themselves over to devoted things – things devoted to destruction – and they lost the blessing of God.  If we are not there to call our children to truth, to holiness, to faithfulness, we leave them vulnerable to the pull of the world.

Whenever our children are treading into new territory, we need to be watchful for those things that might pull our children off track.  Not so much to protect them from those things, but to help our children see those things for what they are and help them make the right choices about those things.  God could have made a fire consume all of Jericho when the wall fell, but He didn’t.  He left it to the Israelites to destroy and put to death those things devoted to destruction.  We need to equip our children to face these temptations in order to help them overcome and be victorious.

Lord, help me remove the things devoted to destruction from having any influence on my life.  Teach me to be solely dependent on you.  Give me a heart that hungers for you and not the things of this world.  And help me speak these same truths into the ear and minds and hearts of my children when they face new territory.   Amen.

Overcoming Doubt

On By cdyeagerwritesIn Children, Devotions, Fatherhood, Parenting2 Comments

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”

Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.  “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob–has appeared to you.” – Exodus 4:1-5 (NIV)

There are several moments I can recall from my childhood when a word of encouragement or wisdom or truth overcame my doubts.  Whether it was trying a new thing or overcoming a challenge in school, my mother or father would help me move beyond myself to what I could be.  I was able to experience so many things and learn more about myself, the world and the God who created us both.  They were doubt dispellers and truth tellers and I am eternally grateful.

Moses needed the great doubt dispeller and truth teller.  His experience in leaving Egypt had left him with several doubts: Would the Egyptians remember him with wrath or mercy?  Would the Israelites accept anyone from the royal family as their leader?  Would anyone listen to his message?  These doubts were so pervasive that they overcame the awe he had been filled with when he first encountered the burning bush.  In the face of God’s obvious presence, Moses needed a background check and a performance guarantee.

Our children are going to experience these moments of doubt and they will need a staff in their hands to help them overcome it.  Whether it is a memory verse, a meaningful saying, a picture, a physical object that represents something to them or just your presence, they will need something to remind themselves and others that they can be exactly who God created them to be.

But the enemy loves doubt.  He relishes the opportunity to plant weeds in our children’s hearts to crush dreams and choke their potential.  It is good to remember that the Aaron’s staff turned into a snake and consumed the snakes of the Egyptian priests.  In our children’s lives, we need to teach them that through Christ they are over-comers.

Lord, help me to be a doubt dispeller and a truth teller for my children.  Give me the words and tools I need to put a staff of confidence and boldness in their hands that is rooted in Your word and filled with Your presence.  Help me be an over-comer in my own life so that my children can see your victory at work.  Amen.

A Child Among the Reeds

On By cdyeagerwritesIn Children, Devotions, Fatherhood, ParentingLeave a comment

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. – Exodus 2:1-3 (NIV)

My wife and daughter recently had an opportunity to go on a mission’s trip to Mexico with our church.  It was an established ministry with a number of trips already behind them over the last several years.  There were several adults in the group and a number of safety measures were in place.  It was very difficult to let them go without any fear or anxiety, to trust that they would be safe, but it was clear that this was the direction God was moving our family.

Trusting our children to the river and the reeds, trusting them to the care of God, is not an easy discipline.  We sometimes get being responsible for our children mixed up with having control over their lives.  When Moses was placed among the reeds, he began a journey that changed the course of history.  It was only through his mother’s willingness to let him go that kept him alive and moved him closer to fulfilling God’s purposes.  I don’t know what his mother felt like.  I can’t put myself in her shoes.  But I remember what I felt like when my wife asked if our little girl could go with her to Mexico.

Those feelings of fear, anxiety and doubt revealed a weakness in me.  It uncovered a crack in the armor; I needed to learn more about trusting God.  Instead of responding with excitement at the opportunity for my daughter to experience ministry, I reacted with trepidation.  It took some time, prayer and the patience of my wife for me to finally work it out, and I hope I will be more prepared the next time I need to let one of my children go into a situation that causes me discomfort.

God gives us responsibility over our children, but our ability to trust them to God’s care is at the heart of that responsibility.  We need to be willing to let our children be the people God created them to be, and that may take them directions we aren’t comfortable with.  As a matter of preparation, we need to turn our children over to God each day.  We need to pray that our children will be sensitive to God’s call on their lives, even if that means going places that cause us stress.

Lord, help me to trust you with my children.  Give me the courage and humility to trust you with their future, no matter where that leads them.  Release me from my false sense of control.  Amen