(Repost from 2017) Have you ever felt completely powerless? Powerless in the sense that you have exhausted all of your resources trying to get your child to listen. It is a terrible and dreadful feeling to know that your child is being led astray and there is nothing you can do about it. It overtakes your thoughts and your sleep. You worry. You dread. You pray. You pray for just one second they would listen to you.
You thought you did everything right. You even thought you were doing a better job than your own parents. You had sit down talks. You had heart to hearts. You shed tears with them. You hugged them. You listened to them. You put yourself in their shoes. You were careful to say the right things. You were on their side. You went through all the bad things in life so that they wouldn’t have to by adhering to your advice.
But…
The child only surface hears you and does the opposite of everything you have preached. They don’t listen and run off on their own, doing all the wrong things you warned them about. Sometimes they come to you crying, only to turn around and do those exact same things, again. They tell you that you are coming at them all wrong and you need to let them figure it out on their own. But, you thought you were already doing that, only guiding them. They may talk nasty to you, using profanity. You are so patient with them, and yet, they say you are being aggressive and loud; however, you do not remember raising your voice once to them because you were afraid of their already fragile state. Talking to them is like walking on egg shells. Everything you do in their eyes is wrong. But in reality, it is the other way around.
You feel so helpless and confused. You are worried and sick to your stomach. You barely sleep at night. It doesn’t matter if your child is 13 or 22. It is still your child. You want the best for them. If only they would listen and quit making bad choices. If only they would seek The Lord with all their heart and all their soul and all their mind and lean not on their own understanding.
Parents, your power comes in the form of prayer. We must be praying for children who have been led astray. We have no control over our children because God is in control. I know He knows better than I do! I trust Him to know what is best and I trust my child in His hands. I only needed to pray over my child. Stop and think about all the bad things that happened to you, and stupid choices that you made in your youth… they made you who you are today. I know I learned from those lessons and they made me a better person in the end. Like a clay pot going through the fire to be molded into a solid, perfect form.
It is going to be so hard sometimes for us parents, but we have to remember that God is in control and we must trust that God is acting in the lives of our children. Although it is difficult to watch, we must remember that God is there, even during the bad times, when our children are led astray and when our children are going through a rough patch. God is there. Sometimes God needs to bring our children through the fire, so they can also learn and become better Christians in the end, just like we all did. How can my child learn good and bad, sad and happiness, good and evil, without going through trials and tribulations? Just as we discipline for the greater good of our children, God also does so with all of us.
We cannot be with our children 100% of the time. We cannot stop them from making those horrible mistakes. We just can’t, especially if the child is already an adult. It hurts to watch. It really, really does. But, we must pray, pray, pray, and know and trust that God is doing his work. Trust in The Lord.