Look Ahead!
Like a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. — Psalms 103:13
Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won't give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? — Luke 11:11
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: Parenthood teaches us humility, mercy, generosity, self-denial, and dependence on divine grace. Because we cannot fulfill this calling perfectly, we will inevitably recognize mistakes when we look back. That reality should not paralyze us: we can rest in the Father’s grace and approval, remain attentive to his Word, and continue to grow, with Jesus as our model. Letting go of the ideal of being perfect parents frees us to fulfill our task more effectively. Our children need us to move forward in health, confidence, and hope, depending on heaven’s provision. God will see to it that they are blessed along the way; therefore, the credit, glory, and honor belong exclusively to him.
Parenting is a riddle God has given us so that we may learn many things in the process of solving it. Through that exercise, we learn humility, mercy, generosity, self-denial, and a desperate dependence on divine grace and provision. It is also like one of those funhouse mirrors designed to make whoever stands before it look distorted. No matter how much you look at yourself and try to straighten up, you will always come out looking crooked.
The problem is that there are too many elements to take into account in perfect parenting, just as there are in perfect holiness or in any other pursuit of perfection. Tens of thousands of ingredients have to go into making that perfection possible. And in this world, it cannot be attained. Inevitably, we will all sin, cause offense, and distort things, and we will look back at our past and see things that were not right.
It will help greatly to entrust ourselves to the Lord’s grace and mercy, to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Word of God, and to give ourselves therapy and comfort. We must press on in the name of the Lord, trying to be the best we can be. Our children need us to be healthy and confident, positive and optimistic, resting in the grace and provision of our heavenly Father. While acknowledging our imperfection, we must always keep our eyes fixed on the example of Jesus, the Shepherd of shepherds, who teaches us how to be ideal fathers and mothers.
And then, being free to acknowledge this—that we are already destined for relative failure, that we cannot be perfect parents—we are free to continue growing toward perfection, which we will never attain. I believe that when people abandon the ideal of being perfect, it enables them to do a better job of being good parents.
We must relax and know that we already have the Father’s approval. Even if we do not score 100, the Father above gives us 100, because “as a father has compassion on his children, so Jehovah has compassion on those who fear him.” In one way or another, the Lord makes sure that, along the way, his nutrients bless our children and that they reach where they need to go. And so, God must always receive the credit, and we must give the glory and honor exclusively to him again and again.