Trusting God With Our Kids

Sounds strange doesn't it? If anything, God should be the ONLY one we trust with our kids, but the reality of it is that my thoughts and actions don't always line up with what I know to be true. The school bus is a glaring example in my life of where I love God, but I don't necessarily trust Him, and a lesson for me in learning to give Him my all.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating the other end of the spectrum where we send the kids out to play on the freeway and expect God to do the babysitting! We are responsible for our children and accountable to God for them. I'm saying that I've realized that when I keep my kids on a short leash, it's sometimes because I feel like I have to do God's work to keep them safe. In other words, subconsciously I think God might try to take them early, so I hover over them to keep anything bad from happening to them, as if I can thwart the plans of God. This isn't something I do consciously or intentionally, but when I have the sense of dread when I send them out, or go against my husbands wishes (and the limits of our gas budget) to drive them to school myself, rather than put them on the bus, my actions reveal what is really in my heart.

I believe that part of my fear and doubt began on April 26, 2010 when a beautiful high school girl in my area got off the school bus and simply disappeared. You can read about her story and her parent's tireless efforts to find her here: http://www.alexandrialowitzer.com/ . I pray for Ali and her family often as I can't imagine what they are going through and my heart hurts so badly for them. Please take a moment to look at their website and send prayer their way. Unfortunately, there are many other families searching for loved ones, you can find more information at the Laura Recovery Center website.

As frightening as that is, however, it should give us a healthy respect of our surroundings & make us cautious, which is biblical (Proverbs 14:16), not handicap us with fear, which is not. I think that part of what causes us as parents to take this fear too far is simply the reluctance to give God our all, which includes our children. But if I do this I've made an idol, not just of my kids, but of my ability as a parent to protect them.

So maybe you're still thinking, jeez lady, what's the big deal? My kids have been riding the bus since kindergarten! Here's the thing about the bus: it's not the bus. It's the way my fear and distrust makes me see the bus. If transportation wasn't an issue, it'd be something else because it's the situation of my heart that's the issue here, not the external circumstance that exposes it.

Why shouldn't I trust my children to Him? He made them after all and gave them to me as a gift (Psalm 127:3). He loves them more than I ever can!

I'll come back in another post to explore what The Bible has to say about God's sovereignty and our children but today I will be a doer of the word and live out my faith instead of just talking about it. Today my child rides the bus home from school and I WILL NOT FEAR.

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