Remember that at 3AM!

        I saw a baby card once that said, “Children are a blessing from the Lord. ”  Underneath those words was a serene photo of a baby’s face.  But a little further down in parentheses were the words, “Remember that at 3 AM!”

       It made me laugh, but the reality that hit me when I saw that card was this:  God gives children to us as a gracious blessing, but difficult days can sometimes tempt us to forget who they are, and what God is doing.  In the challenging times, we may have to remind ourselves that what God says about children is still true.

Who they are…

       In Psalm 127, God Himself says that children are a gift, and you are blessed if you have them.

       Look into the eyes of your brand new baby boy and think what a uniquely designed gift he is. The world of boys is loud and rowdy, charged with energy, filled with sound effects of shooting guns and revving engines, busy with the victories and defeats of competition, the rampages of cowboys and Indians, and the roars of wild animal attacks! You are raising a little man, and you look ahead with anticipation to first steps, first words, and the opportunity to cultivate a special relationship with this son that God has placed into your family.

      But the crying at 3 am quickly yanks you back to the reality of the here and now! This is life. Woven together with the wonderful, joyous things, are challenging things, things that are tiring and unpleasant, things that we don’t always relish, especially after doing them over and over and over, and they are still to be done again.

But when you are overwhelmed and there’s another messy diaper to deal with...
or
... your boys are wrestling and fighting and your patience is wearing thin,
or
... it is 4:30 pm, no dinner has been planned, and you are exhausted from the constant care, training, and cleaning that your children required for the day, you can still say, “Yes, God is right. My children are a blessing from the Lord!”

      And of course, many trials have been experienced by parents down through the ages that make these examples seem trite and naïve.  But nothing, no matter how grave, can undo the truth of God’s word, that children are a blessing from the Lord.

  

How can I say that?

1.   Your children are a blessing from the Lord because they are made in His image. A living, breathing human being is the pinnacle of God’s amazing creative genius and power. The ability to think, reason, love, communicate, show compassion, kindness and even hate, are attributes that reflect the image of the One who made us.  When your gaze into the face of your baby, stand in awe of the great God who made him in His image.

2.    Your children are a blessing from the Lord because they are given by Him.  In the sovereign plan of God, He wisely wove together each child that He gives to you. With divine insight, He created this particular eternal soul, and placed him in your care. This baby is His gift to you, and He knows what He is doing. How humbling it is to realize that the Mighty Creator, who spoke worlds into existence, would stoop to give such a gift, a one-of-a-kind, uniquely, crafted-by-His-hand gift, to His children!

3.   Your children are a blessing because God is going to use them greatly for your sanctification.

There is a process of transformation set in motion at the moment you trust Christ to save you, and God will

complete it when you see Jesus face to face after this life is over. He intends to change you, and He is going

 to use your children to do it!  You are probably already aware, maybe painfully aware at times, as I am, that 

this is true!  Do you want to be like Christ? Well, here’s your chance!  It is called motherhood!  Oh, the sin 

your children are going to uncover that you were previously unaware of!!!  Oh, the character flaws that will 

surface as you deal with your children through the long and tiring days!!!  Oh, the anger and unkindness that 

will be revealed in your own heart when faced with ungrateful, rebellious children!  Stand back and say to 

yourself, “Thank you Lord, for my children!  Because I want to be like Christ, and my children are helping 

me get there, by showing me my sin, so I can repent and grow! 

So, children are a blessing. That is what God intends them to be as He gives them to you. Along with that truth, you may need to remind yourself on difficult days of the big picture of God’s great plan….

What God is doing…

              He is giving you the opportunity of a lifetime for Gospel work!              

       From their earliest days, your children are to receive love and care from you, and as they grow older, years of instruction from the Word of God, the Bible, through what you say to them and how you live.  Don’t get so caught up in the physical work of raising children that you forget that this is all a means to an end, not an end in itself!  Let it all be for the sake of your Savior. Love them toward the goal of leading them to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Build a relationship with them that is marked by unconditional love and trust so that you will have a platform from which to influence them for Christ.  That is what it is all about: being a light in the dark world to point others to Jesus and the salvation that is available in Him alone.  No other missionary opportunity can equal the opportunity you have as the mother of this child! In Psalm 78, Israel was commanded to pass along the knowledge of God to their children:

Psalm 78:5-7

 For He established a testimony in Jacob

And appointed a law in Israel,

Which He commanded our fathers

That they should teach them to their children,

That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,

That they may arise and tell them to their children,

 That they should put their confidence in God

And not forget the works of God,

But keep His commandments…”

 This must continue in our own families, today.

It is really easy to lose sight of this in exhausting times, as you are busy with physical tasks that never end, and when you are confronted by resistance that wears you down.  It is easy to forget what God is doing and how he wants to let us participate in the process.  He is gathering a people from every tribe and tongue and nation, and redeeming them from their sin.  He wants to use you, right here, right now, in your own little family, with your specific children to bring more souls to worship and value and find salvation in the Lord Jesus.

Maybe you are thinking…..”Whoa! But I’m just an ordinary mom.  That is a high and lofty work, and I’m not adequate for such a task!”  At least that is what I think sometimes when I’m feeling overwhelmed about all that God has called me to do.

But I love what John Piper has to say about this in his book, Finally Alive:   He’s explaining the passage from 2 Cor. 4:7 that says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” God has entrusted the treasure of the Gospel of Christ to us, who are nothing more than clay pots, ordinary flawed human beings…

“God’s aim is that his own power through the gospel, not ours, be exalted.  This means that if you feel average or less than average in your sense of fitness to tell the gospel, then you are just the person God is looking for- a clay pot, who simply shares the treasure of the gospel, not the glitzy intellect, not the glitzy eloquence, not the glitzy beauty or strength or cultural cleverness.  Then God will do his work through the gospel, and the surpassing power will belong to Him and not us.

Be encouraged, ordinary Christian.  You are appointed, precisely in your ordinariness, for the greatest work in the world: opening the eyes of the blind and showing the Treasure of Christ.”

And do you know how this missionary work is going to look each day?  It is simply loving and caring for your children, building a relationship of trust and kindness that makes you a desirable authority in their lives, and letting the natural conversation of your days together (arising from both happy and hard times) lead you to talk of the Savior. It also means confessing your sins to God and your children, and asking forgiveness so that they see how a sinner lives by grace at the foot of the cross, and offers that same grace to others.

So when it’s 3 AM and the baby is screaming, remind yourself, “This child is a blessing, and God wants to use me to spread the glory of Jesus through the earth, starting right here in my own family!”

It is my prayer that these thoughts will encourage you through the busy days of caring for your children.