I don't know about you, but I worry about my kids. None of them are
actively walking with the Lord and although there are good signs along the
way...still I worry. I cannot make them believe...I cannot force them to follow...and when they do not...it brings me great sadness and pain...not only for myself, but for them...for all that they are robbing themselves and others of...for all the joy lost that can never be recaptured....yes there can be future joys, but joy lost....cannot be reclaimed. His ways are the best ways for a reason.....because they are The Best. But I cannot will them to understand or believe this and it breaks my heart when their choices diverge from His.....sigh....
Today, I received some unexpected encouragement in
this department. Actually from the Lord Himself. I was reading along
in my daily scripture...I'm in John right now.....reading,
reading...Jesus talking to the Pharisees, Jesus walking around the
temple....Jesus saying "don't follow me unless I follow My
Father"...Jesus claiming to be God's Son...general stuff...you
know....and then he left them....well escaped away actually when they
would have liked to stone Him...Just when they were at their
angriest...He slipped away.
Then the last verses of the chapter.....John 10:40-42
Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here He stayed and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place many believed in Jesus.
As I read across this verse I idylly wondered why so many would believe in that area as opposed to the Temple area in Jerusalem where the Pharisees were so angry....and then I got it....John had already prepared the way...the ground was plowed and fallow....it was the perfect place for the seeds of the Truth to be sown. In this place, Jesus could be exactly Who He was meant to be and could freely do All that the Father showed Him.... and He would be received as who He truly was ....God's Only Son.
Then the Lord spoke ever so clearly to my heart...."you have prepared the way for Me in the hearts of your children, just like John did, and they will see that all you have said about Me is true."
Oh this brings me great joy! He said that I have done my part...He said that the path has been prepared...He said that they will see.....
Only He can do His part....only He can do what He does.....and I must trust Him to it.
Thank you, Lord for assuring me that because of my efforts, You already have an inroad into my children's hearts...as You work Your work in them...they will see that all I have told them and taught them and lived in front of them.... is true.
