A Wayward Child
Recently I received this email from a dear Christian friend. What a struggle this must be.
Brother Walt,
Your message has come at an odd time for us - last night one of my daughters (who has chosen life with another woman) told me "She is pregnant" (about eleven weeks). Each of my children have followed in 'believers baptism' during their teenage years (and that has been a lifelong prayer of ours - that none of my children perish). I have learned that God has never told me "No", but has always given me more than I could ask. Is there a time when he can give me 'more', and not give me the life of one of my children?
I am very concerned, confused and don't know what to do,,,, except continue to pray (which I have done 'without ceasing') for my children. My wife and I worry that she has scorned God and He will 'turn her over to her ways', but that would be in direct denial of our prayer. We have made this daughter aware of the consequences of this life style, but she has denied our advice. I will believe in God's promise - is there anything more that I can do?
I know you have more than you can handle, but since this passage has meant something to you, I thought I would share my burden with you.
In Christ,
A Dear Christian Friend
My Response Follows,
Dear Friends,
I know your hearts must deeply hurt for your daughter and her decision. Rest assured that our Lord knows how your heart aches for one you love so very much. There is no doubt that God loves your daughter as much as you do, if not more. His heart is hurting as well.
Don’t ever let our adversary convince you that it was something that you did that brought this rebellion into your daughter’s life. We must remember that our Heavenly Father had two young adults that were given a perfect provision, placed in a perfect place, and walked in His perfect presence; but they still rebelled and Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. God did not cast them out because He hated them, but because He loved them more than tongue could tell.
Is your daughter a scorner, or a prodigal? Was her profession and mere profession or was she truly born-again those many years ago? These are both question that parents find themselves asking, among other, in times like these. I have said to my own children more than once, “You have made a profession in Jesus Christ, you are living the Christian life because in our home you must, I will not allow you to do anything less. However, there is coming a day when you will leave this house as an adult, and then you will make decisions for yourself. It is then that you will discover, from your own choices and the evidences of your life, how real Jesus is to you. Your heart and the content of your heart will be manifested by your life and actions.”
The answer is certainly contained in Scripture.
The bible tells us that if your Child is a born-again Christian and is living in blatant sin that her Heavenly-Father will take action:
Hebrews 12:4-11 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
The Prodigal Son in Luke 15.11-32 reveals what this chastisement might look like. The actions and decisions of this wayward son brought him into desperation and despair. Another example would be Jonah, who due to his rebellion was the first to experience deep sea travel (he took the first submarine ride). In either case God did what was necessary to bring a wandering child back to the abundant life their Heavenly-Father desire to give them. The hardest part for the parent to do is to let go and let God, don’t bail them out.
The Lost Self-Righteous are probably to more common case in our day. These know the Gospel, know something of the Word of God, know a lot about religion, but are lost none-the-less. They may have prayed the simple prayer of confession but they never received the Lord Jesus Christ. These will be found prospering in their sin. There seems to be no punishment for their open rebellion against God. They just go on and on and there seems to be no penalty for their wickedness. These are those that the Psalmist wrote about in Psalm 73. Make no mistake here, these are lost and undone in sin. They are on their way to hades and the eternal torment of the Lake of Fire. What should a parent of one of these scoffers do? Pray for their salvation. Pray for God to have mercy on them and to touch them with His supernatural reality before it is too late. Tell them that god want’s to save them through Jesus Christ. And hope that they have not crossed over the death line of pernicious rebellion against the grace and love of God.
My heart hurts for you both. I love you both in Christ and my prayers will be with you concerning your daughter. May our Lord and Savior grant you grace and peace equivalent to your pain and burden. I will not pray for Him to remove your burden or pain, because your daughter needs the prayer your pain will require. God bless you both.
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