ROOTED RENEGADE

Giants go after your family so you will focus elsewhere and not on the assignment God gave you.

I probably don’t have to tell you that fighting for a family member can consume your attention. You may find it harder to concentrate at work. And your prayer life can become mostly focused on them. They are constantly on your mind and sometimes you can’t sleep because of it.

Our attention can become so focused on them that it becomes less focused on God and what He has called us to. Some get so weary that they lose sight of everything, even losing hope that God will provide or come through. 

I have been there recently. I have contended for my family so much that I became weary in well doing. I stayed so consumed by their battles that I was distracted from what God was asking me to do. 

To the point where my sleep was constantly interrupted no matter what I tried or prayed. I started feeling this heaviness I couldn’t shake. I wasn’t even praying for me anymore and I was losing the fire I had. It was like life was being sucked out of me a little at a time. I started to feel like the breakthrough for them was never going to come. That even my prayers were hitting glass ceilings. I was slowly giving up without even realizing it.

When my shoulder started hurting, the Lord reminded me that I was carrying burdens that were not mine. He would remind me of Psalm 81:6 frequently. And He has gracefully walked me through releasing the burdens to Him.

He also showed me how I was so consumed with their freedom, that I had placed them above my love for the Lord. OUCH! You see, I can’t fix their lives. I can’t make them love Jesus or even want to love Jesus. I am not that powerful.

The only thing I can do is release them to the ONE who can – Jesus. It isn’t that I can’t still pray for them, I can. But I don’t have to hold the burden of responsibility for their walk with Jesus.

I was reminded of 1 Samuel 2, where Eli the priest was called out by a prophet for choosing his sons over Yahweh. Eli was responsible for ensuring the sacrifices were offered and the incense was burned. 

However, his sons were wicked and they were doing what was right in their own eyes and dishonoring the Lord. And Eli became complicit in their sins. As a result, his family was removed from the priestly inheritance.

You see if giants can shift your focus by attacking your family they know that over time, if you take your focus off God, you may become complicit in your child’s sins. Often because they become idols in your heart and instead of handing them over to Jesus, you take matters into your own hands.

There is a delicate dance in parenting that must be done with the Lord. He must be the One who leads the dance, regardless of how old our children are. When they become idols in our hearts, as if we can save them, then we stop dancing with the Lord.

It becomes a very dangerous and slippery slope. Our prayers become controlling and one sided. We get discouraged and hurt when it doesn’t turn out the way we want it to. Our unrealistic expectations backfire. And the giants gain a stronger foothold.

So how to we overcome? We let go. We surrender our children to the Lord like Abraham did. We stop trying to parent them in our own strength and might. And we allow the Lord to be their Savior.

If we continue to lead in our own way, we will continue to be distracted from what the Lord is calling us to do, regardless if our only ministry is parenthood. 

Jesus did not do anything He didn’t see His Father doing. Giants could not get a foothold on Him, ever. Because Jesus knew that Abba was the beginning and the end. The ONE who hung the stars and moon and make the many waters.

Who better than the Father to teach Jesus and us? 

We just need to get out of our own way and remember that we were granted the honor of raising our children and leading our families. But we were never given permission to be their saviors.

It has been a hard lesson for me to learn, but I am so thankful that I can share it with you. One thing I have to remember, is that no matter what, He has them. And as long as I trust in Him, regardless of the outcome, I know they are in the best hands they could ever be in.

Faythe