My husband was telling me about an incident that happened yesterday with our oldest son, Cale. My husband was at a gas station and was approached by a man that needed some money. All my husband had was Cale's money he was holding for him...and ended up giving it to the man in need. My husband is telling Cale the story about how the man needed money and Cale was super excited that His dad, once again, was the hero and gave the man some money...But then when his dad continued and told him that the money he gave the man was His, he was trying so hard to hold back the tears..."That was his money, he had worked so hard for that money, he had saved it and not spent it because there was something special he had in store for that money." Recognizing that this was extremely hard news to hear, but knowing Cale would never say any of this, but knew he was thinking it; He asked Cale if he trusted Him, as his father, that he would take care of him and his money. With a hesitate but confident "Yes", his dad took him to the toy store and all was right in the world again.
Just like Cale, there is something that we view as ours, our most prized possessions, our children....they are ours, we work hard for our children, we have prayed and provided for our children, and we have special plans in store for our children. But just as Cale's father asked him if he trusted him...there will come a time that God will ask us to trust Him with our children....Just ask Mary and Joseph.
We most always refer to Jesus as God's Son, and sometimes I forget He was also the son of Mary and Joseph as well. Mary is the one who gave birth to him. Joseph is the one who named him. Mary was the one who fed him. Joseph was the one taught him the carpentry skills. From the moment the angels appeared to both Mary and Joseph, they became parents. They were going to rejoice over this baby boy, they were going to play and wrestle with this little boy, they were going to love this little boy because he was their son, their child, their little boy. But there came a point at some time when they had to remember and remind themselves that although God entrusted this baby boy, turned infant boy, turned teenage boy, turned adult man that He in fact belonged to God....And so do we. God has entrusted us with His babies, His little girls, His teenagers and there will come times in each stage of life that we are going to have to trust God with the children he has entrusted us. Maybe your child is in the hospital right now and you feel so helpless...You can trust your father with your child. May be your child is struggling in school right now...You can trust your father with your child. May be your child is going through some rebellion and you just don't understand...You can trust your Father with your Child. After all, Your Father is their Father!
I have a passage marked in my Bible that has all three of my children's names beside it. It is on 2 Corinthians 1:24, "We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you will stand firm." Our goal as parents is to work together with God so that our children can be full of joy and stand firm in their own faith because of God....just like Mary and Joseph.
I can't imagine how hard it was for Mary and Joseph to watch their Son go through the torture and torment he did willingly, but they trusted their Father with their son from the cradle to the cross...and in turn, their son became their Savior.
