Promise of Blessed Offspring

Let us turn to a passage that I feel the Lord gave me for our mothers, but also for our fathers, for Christian families who in these times feel somewhat under the onslaught of a culture that is rather hostile to the education and upbringing of God-fearing children, children who reflect the values of the Kingdom of God.

And I truly feel that God gave a different turn to a passage that I have preached on many times, taking it in a different direction; it is as though God refreshed it for me this morning and invited me to approach it from the perspective of motherhood and fatherhood and the home in general, and I believe it is a prophetic Word for all of us.

So I invite you to turn to Isaiah chapter 54, Isaiah 54. It is a Word of hope, an optimistic vision of the family’s future. “Promise of Blessed Descendants”—that is what I would call it. And by the way, in case I forget to tell the title to my brother Carlos, who always comes over here to ask me, it is “Promise of Blessed Descendants.” How about that—do you approve of the title, brothers and sisters? Okay, then that is what we will call it.

Promise of Blessed Descendants. Isaiah chapter 54 is a call to a person who has a negative view of the future, and the Lord’s invitation is to exchange that negative view and that negative expectation for an optimistic and positive vision.

It says here: “Rejoice, O barren woman, you who did not give birth. Break forth into song and cry aloud for joy, you who were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than those of the married woman, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched out. Do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants”—you can read there, your children, your grandchildren—“your descendants will inherit nations and inhabit the desolate cities.”

“Do not fear,” the Lord tells all of us, “do not fear, for you will not be put to shame, and do not be ashamed, for you will not be disgraced; rather, you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood, for your husband is your Maker, the Lord of Hosts is His Name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.”

“He will be called the God of all the earth, for the Lord has called you like a forsaken woman, grieved in spirit, like the wife of one’s youth who has been rejected, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great mercy I will gather you. In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting mercy I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.” May the Lord bless His holy Word.

What a beautiful passage, isn’t it? Don’t you feel God’s comfort? Don’t you feel God’s invitation to adopt a positive perspective on the future? We could continue reading the passage, and perhaps at some point I will touch on other parts of the content of this beautiful text, but those verses give us an idea of the words of comfort and God’s call to a positive, optimistic, confident attitude toward the future.

We live in a time when many people are afraid for the future of our children. We know that this is a culture that is definitely far from God, where schools often conspire to instill in our children values that are contrary to the values of the Kingdom of God and to the values that we ourselves have sought to instill in them. They are certainly very different from the values that our parents instilled in us. The young people themselves are corrupted and reinforce one another in bad habits, bad attitudes, and bad values, and there are so many negative forces. The Internet is a swarm of wickedness, although it is also such a blessing in many ways and makes life so easy for us in many respects; but we also know that it is a dangerous place where the enemy seeks to infest our children’s minds with bad habits and negative attitudes.

Sometimes the Internet is more of a teacher to our children than we ourselves are. And there are so many different elements and factors that inspire fear in us concerning the future of our children and concerning being fathers or mothers. Many parents do not want—rather, many young people, when they get married, do not even want to have children because they are afraid of the world into which they would bring them, and that is understandable.

I remember the very legitimate concern expressed by our sister Laura a few Sundays ago, which moved us: the fear of a young mother as she watches her little children grow up in a world so hostile to the values of the Kingdom of God. And I know that many parents share that fear, because this is the society, the context, in which our children are growing up—a society far removed from the values of the Kingdom of God.

But Isaiah 54 presents us with a vision of hope and invites us to trust the Lord for fruitful and blessed motherhood—speaking specifically to the mothers—or, for parents in general, for a positive experience and an outcome for which we will be able to thank the Lord. Isaiah 54 invites us to change our expectations, to change the confession that comes out of our mouths, and to change the reference points we use to judge the paternal or maternal experience we are having.

The first thing we see here is that we are invited to make a positive confession in the midst of a negative situation, because God is speaking here to a barren woman. It says, “Rejoice, O barren woman, you who did not give birth.” How ironic to ask that of a woman, especially within the Hebrew context, in which being a mother was absolutely the greatest blessing to which a woman could aspire, and not to be a mother—remember, for example, the story of Hannah before she had her son Samuel, Hannah’s agony because she could not have children. Her life was completely embittered because she wanted to have a child but could not; she felt as though her life had no meaning. Her husband did not fulfill her, even though he loved her so much.

But Hannah was desperate to have children. And this woman described to us in Isaiah 54 has no children; she is barren, and yet the Lord invites her to rejoice in view of what is to come later. Sometimes we rejoice only when we already have what we want, and then we say, “Now I am going to rejoice because I received what I wanted.” But what about rejoicing in anticipation of what one does not yet have? What about rejoicing as a weapon one uses to draw in what one does not have? What about confessing with our mouths God’s good purposes for our children and our home, even though we do not yet see them, huh?

What about thanking God for what our children will one day become, even though perhaps we do not see it yet? What about exchanging our negative confession—because of the circumstances, the lack of children, or the situation around us—for a confession that says, “No, the Lord will have the final word in the lives of my children,” amen? The Lord is in control, and the Lord will use every aspect and every moment of my children’s lives to carry out a special work in them.

I see that idea, don’t you, of preventive rejoicing, so to speak, because there are so many things in family life that instead invite us to become filled with negativity and to make a negative confession, because we know that raising children is not easy. Our children sometimes give us a lot of gray hairs and add to them; it is not all just a song. But God says, “You know what? When you feel inclined to throw in the towel, praise Me and glorify Me, believe and rejoice in Me, and confess that I am more than sufficient and more than powerful.”

The image that comes to mind is that of the father of the so-called prodigal son in Jesus Christ’s parable. How much must that father have suffered as he watched his son’s behavior, the somewhat bitter character of that rebellious young man, which finally culminates when this young man says to his father, “Give me the inheritance that is due me,” as though anything were due him. His father owns all the money, but this son comes to his father in an act of rebellion and asks him to give him the money that belongs to him.

And this father, very wisely, says to his son, “Okay, fine,” and lets him go far away from home. And you can imagine that father’s time of anguish and agony while his son was away, without receiving a letter from him, without knowing how he was doing, without knowing whether he had gotten into trouble somewhere in a bar or at some nightclub he had visited, suffering and perhaps thinking that everything was over. Nevertheless, that father is there waiting, waiting, while in the meantime God is working on his son’s heart over there; God is taking him where He needs to take him.

There is one who stayed home, who always behaves well and does everything right, and there is another who creates problems. But God was working in a different way in something, because children have different temperaments, brothers and sisters. They have different callings, and God wants to do different things in them.

What I mean is that our children are blessed because God’s seal is upon them, because God is a generous and merciful God, and He sees the righteousness of their parents; God sees their parents’ love for them and their parents’ prayers. And I believe that the divine hound is always pursuing them, even if they go far away, but the rope never lets go of them for a moment.

And the Lord takes them through different processes. Not everyone is called to do the same thing, and unfortunately there are times when we have to go through certain processes in order to become what God wants us to be. Each one of us is a different world. And so God lets the children go to different places. Meanwhile, even while we feel the pain of not having them where we want them to be, I believe that we must persist in confessing God’s good purpose for their future lives, and we have to bless them and confess, “No, God is not finished yet.”

Because one day that father, who had remained there suffering over that son for so long, saw him return home—chastened, beaten, humiliated, and humbler—and then he was able to find his place in the family and move forward. And God wanted to deal with both of them in different ways. Perhaps those who took the longest to come to know the Lord are the ones who will love the Lord most, because they know what God rescued them from, so we do not know. Therefore, I believe we must always reserve a measure of praise, faith, and belief in the goodness and mercy of the Lord.

That is why the Lord says here: “Rejoice, O barren woman, you who did not give birth; break forth into song and cry aloud for joy, you who were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than those of the married woman.” We have to visualize the condition in which God will have our children; they are—God speaks in the present tense at all times.

So that idea of rejoicing is very important in everything. I believe there are also many ways to rejoice when it comes to the family and the home. We must cultivate joy in our homes as well. I believe our homes should be places of praise; they should be places of happiness, good words, and positive things. We must fill our homes with good music, worship, laughter, and the company of family. We must not allow our homes simply to become gloomy, sad places.

That is why I believe the Bible also calls us to be hospitable, because something good happens when a home is filled with the laughter of friends and relatives and the aroma of a good meal, isn’t that right? I am already getting hungry just mentioning it. But how wonderful it is when our children grow up in positive homes where there is happiness, where there is joy, where Mom and Dad love each other, where the children are celebrated, and where the Lord’s blessing rests. Let us try to make our homes places of happiness and joy. Let us cultivate a home and take care of the atmosphere in our houses. Let there be no hurtful words or open conflicts; let there be harmony and blessing, because rejoicing attracts the Lord’s blessing and joy.

And the Word says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. I believe that is why we must always celebrate in our lives and ask the Lord to fill us with an attitude of joy. Do you know that I sincerely believe it takes the same amount of effort to become depressed as it does to become joyful? You have to work hard to become depressed. Why not work hard to have an attitude of joy? Sometimes you feel as though not even the lilies smell sweet to you, right? Well then, rebuke that spirit of depression and say, “No, I am going to rejoice in the Lord today; today I am going to celebrate the Lord’s goodness and blessings.”

Yesterday I had a wonderful but also demanding day, as Gregory was saying. My family accompanied me there to Gordon-Conwell. You do not know what it is like to preach to 1,200 or 1,400 people, a large number of them students completing their theological studies, along with seminary professors and all of that. It would burn out anyone’s nervous system, especially in an atmosphere as solemn as a graduation, right? And this morning it felt as though my neurons had shriveled up like this.

But by praying to the Lord and crying out to Him, you sort of begin to loosen up. And I say to Him, “Lord, give me a Word,” and after being in that environment, anything seems minor; it is as though you need about three days to recover. I was there, and the Lord, in such a sovereign, such a beautiful way, opened that passage to me; I do not know how I came to it, but it was as though God placed it there in my path and said to me, “Look, preach about this.” Because one can preach about many things, but I did not feel that I was going to take one of those sermons and reheat it for mothers.

And suddenly I saw this passage and said, “Wow, I never saw it that way”: a call to mothers and fathers to have certain attitudes, to do certain things, because we have a God who provides. God gave me joy at that moment; He gave me peace. I feel physically tired, but I feel joyful in the Lord—a God so good, a God so powerful. This may take me off the subject, but that is why I tell you that we have to learn to rejoice in the Lord, because God pays such attention to detail.

And even though we may be going through great trials, great tribulations, we have to believe in a meticulous God who cares about us and who sometimes gives us—He shows us such tiny gestures of care, but they make us believe that He truly is real. I did not share this with Meche. I was in a large room where the faculty came to put on their gowns and mortarboards and all of that, and I am thinking about the sermon I am going to preach to all these distinguished people, and I was saying, “I am not sure whether what I wrote, which I felt the Lord had given me, was going to hit the mark; whether it was good content, good material; whether it was the right tone; whether it rose to the occasion. I feel a little unsure about it.”

And I did not even know whether the subject was one that would be well received, because it was somewhat confrontational up to a point, but encouraging as well; that was what I wanted to present. But while I am there, I hear the chairman of Gordon-Conwell’s board of trustees, a highly distinguished retired Presbyterian pastor, talking with a seminary professor and commenting on an incident they had recently experienced at a conference. And it is interesting, but the subject they were discussing was perfectly in tune with the message I had prepared.

And notice that what immediately came to mind was when Gideon was wondering whether God was with him before he went to war against the Midianites. And God said to him, “Look, go down to the camp and listen to what they are saying there.” And when he was inside the camp, Gideon heard two men talking about some dreams they had had—do you remember?—about a loaf of bread that rolled along and destroyed the entire army, and other things, and that strengthened Gideon’s heart. And it was as though God said to me, “Look, you are Gideon, doubting what I have told you and what I have commanded you to do. There I am sending you a word of comfort,” because that calmed my heart and my spirit a little, and to the glory of the Lord, the message was tremendously well received and was a blessing.

But what I want to tell you, brother, is that sometimes we are sweating bullets in life, afraid and complaining, while God wants us to enjoy life. God wants us, in the midst of everything, to learn to rejoice, because ultimately He is in control. Let us not turn our fatherhood or our motherhood into something that robs us of the joy of the Lord. Nor should we be overly afraid about the blessing. God will take care of things in the end; God is faithful, God is good, His mercy endures forever, amen? Let us celebrate our parenthood and our families, and let us rejoice in the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a passage that you know is wonderfully appropriate for so many things, where God directs His word of encouragement to a Hebrew people who are depressed and sad, who are in Babylon and have just arrived there, and their tendency is to shrink back, hide, become depressed, have no children, and live an anonymous life. And God says to them: “Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captives whom I caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit; marry and beget sons and daughters.”

How beautiful. Sometimes it is: “Oh no, we are not going to have children,” and so on. I understand the fear, but notice that here the Lord says, “Look, marry, have sons and daughters; children are a blessing from the Lord. Give wives to your sons and give husbands to your daughters.” Notice that He does not say, “Give wives to your daughters and husbands to your sons,” right? The Lord always knows best; God does not need to be—amen. (Applause.) That is an unpaid announcement, but nowhere in the Bible do I see anything about these swarms of wickedness, these vile concoctions of wickedness that the devil wants. No.

“Give husbands to your daughters so that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there and do not diminish, says the Lord.” We have to adopt positive attitudes. In the midst of the world’s wickedness and its threats, let us rejoice in the Lord, let us celebrate, let us prepare a good meal, and afterward we can ask the Lord’s forgiveness if we ate too much (laughter), or do a little extra exercise, right?

But I say that our children will learn from us what kind of attitude they will have in life—whether one of joy and optimism or of depression and pessimism. You know what? Your behavior will leave a deep mark on your children. If children see Mom and Dad being optimistic and, when problems arise, saying, “No, we can move forward in the name of the Lord”; if they hear positive language from their parents’ mouths; if they see their parents overcoming every difficult or adverse situation; if they see their parents remaining steadfast and faithful, confessing the Lord’s positivity and joy when trials come; if they see Dad and Mom there together, fighting when adversity and difficulty come, the children will learn from that as well and will remember it, and they too will have that same attitude of joy and drive toward life.

That is why our children are always watching us to see whether we are praising and rejoicing or becoming depressed and railing against life or against God. So let us fill our homes with joy, laughter, positive attitudes, and good expectations about the future, because God has good things for us. And let us celebrate our children too; let us celebrate them.

The Lord brought Psalm 113, verse 9, to my mind concerning this very thing. It says: “He grants the barren woman a home, rejoicing to be a mother of children”—rejoicing to be a mother of children. There are many sisters who lament because children spoil their figure; when they give birth, they are worrying about it, and the children are there for nine months, often feeling their mother’s rejection. Mother, rejoice in being a mother; celebrate your children. However they come, celebrate them; life must be celebrated.

We have to live in a culture that celebrates children. I believe that is part of this matter of celebrating and rejoicing; we have to rejoice. I believe that cultures of life—I preached some time ago about cultures of life and cultures of death—cultures of life revolve around children, around sons and daughters. Cultures of death revolve around adults. Cultures of death sacrifice children for adults, and then the mother says, “Well, my womb is my property; that is my real estate, and I can do whatever I want with my womb. If I want to kill the child, that is my business, because it is there inside me.” Cultures of life say, “No, this life is autonomous and is a creation of God, and I cannot do whatever I please with it, because it is a life. It is inside me, but it is also a life separate from me.”

And when parents are going to get divorced, they think first about those children who are going to grow up without a father or without a mother, in a divided home, and they think about it two or three times, and they fight to keep the home together because the children are important, and we think about them instead of saying, “No, I am no longer in love with my wife or my husband, and we are going to separate and seek another life and do something new.” And what about those children whom you brought into the world? You owe it to them, and if you do what is right, God will bless you, and you will find a reason to love your wife and keep your home together. Do not turn your back on your home.

We have to celebrate and value children; they are precious before God. Children are a heritage from the Lord, it says, and if we celebrate them and rejoice in them in homes that celebrate life and family, God will cause His blessing to rest upon those homes. So all of this revolves around that Word; it is the call to rejoice, right?

Second, we have to begin laying the foundations. I do not want to leave this hanging in the air; listen to this too. First, we must rejoice, with everything that entails—a culture of joy, rejoicing, celebration, expectation of God’s blessing, all of this—but second, we have to begin laying the foundations and putting in place the structures for the future we envision for our children. That sounds a little complex, but I am going to read it again. We have to begin laying the foundations for the future we envision for our children.

This same passage reminded me of that, because after that call to joy and celebration, the Lord tells this same woman—He invites her to take action. He says to her: “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.” What is here? There is a call to rejoice in expectation of what is coming, but then God says, “You know what? If you are going to have more children, then you had better buy a house with more bedrooms; you are going to need a bigger house. You are going to have a family, you are going to have influence, so prepare a larger place for yourself.”

So in this case, He is speaking to people who lived in tents. Then He says to them, “Well, get yourself a larger curtain so that the tent will be bigger, and not only that, you are going to need longer cords to secure it because it is a larger curtain, and also stronger stakes because the tent is going to be heavier and there will be more wind trying to pull it away; therefore, the tent has to be stronger.” He calls this woman to plan in light of what she expects for the future, in light of the optimistic, positive vision she has conceived.

Right? Because I would say that many Christian people live in dissonance between the Christian spiritual vision they have as children of God and their actions, their conduct, the daily life of the home, the habits they cultivate, and the way they are preparing for the future they envision or conceive for their children later on. There is a contradiction between what we confess with our mouths, what we believe with our minds and spirits, and what we are actually living out in the education we give our children and in the things embodied in our home. There has to be consonance between the vision and the building, in other words, and I am going to summarize so that you may understand a little better what I am saying.

For example, if you want bright and successful children, professionally accomplished and at least equipped with a good trade, who are hardworking, can support themselves well, and can support their household. They do not necessarily have to be presidents of the nation, but listen, how necessary a good plumber, a good electrician, or a good bricklayer is in the world. They do not have to be geniuses, but one wants children who are hardworking and productive, who earn a good living—isn’t that right, amen?—who have a purpose in life, who plan, who have a productive life.

So if you want children like that—productive in life, successful in life—you have to structure your home accordingly, isn’t that right? The home must be structured from the beginning so that it is a place of learning, where everything the children see and receive channels them in the direction in which we want to lead them. Do you know that producing a productive person, a person who is successful in life, is not something that happens in one day? You call him over for a moment because an idea occurred to you, give him a piece of advice, and now you think that with that advice the boy will change overnight. No, that is work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for ten or fifteen years.

And later, when they have children, you are going to have to keep teaching them and helping them move forward; it never ends. Being a father or a mother never ends, and you have to know that it is constant work. We frequently ask the Lord for intelligent, professional, well-behaved, God-fearing children, but our homes do not reflect those priorities.

Ask yourself: How many books are there in your house? How many books are there in your house? There are homes where books are conspicuous by their absence. Now, you will find a television in every room and a radio on every corner—I hope I am not stepping on anyone’s toes here in the service. What has a prominent place in your house, brother or sister: a good library or an 84-inch television?

In other words, I believe it can be something as simple as children being raised with a vision from the very beginning. For example, they can grow up handling little books even though they cannot read them—a six-month-old baby handling even just a little rubber book. That way, the baby already becomes accustomed to the idea of pages and to the idea of this object, whereas if a child does not grow up with those things, then when he is five or seven years old and you want to introduce them, it seems like an object from Pluto or Mars, do you understand? Many children do not grow up in a home where they are encouraged to be intelligent, studious children who enjoy reading, because that requires a process of learning and training.

I applaud Meche because we have a very large bookcase in the main living room. When our grandson Caleb was with us here in Boston, before they left for Nashville, Meche said, “You know what? Since Caleb is always visiting the house, let’s take part of the bookcase and put Caleb’s books there.” The adults’ books were there, but we also wanted him to form the idea that his books were important and had their own place. Those books are still there, so when he comes to visit, he goes looking for his books, and they are there on that side of the bookcase.

A vision is formed in which books are not something foreign or strange that should be rejected; the child becomes accustomed to books. Not long ago, I was watching a video about Orthodox Jews—they are called Hasidic Jews, the very, very Orthodox ones—and it was interesting. When they educate their children, from the age of about four, I believe, there comes a time when they begin teaching them the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And one of the things they do—and of course, all of this is accompanied by the Word of God—is that the first thing the children learn is the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but using biblical texts.

Look how interesting that is. Why do you think the Jews are taking the world by storm? That tiny little country is now such a successful and influential country, so full of success and money, because those people have a tremendous commitment to education. So when those little children are being educated, they take them to the yeshiva, the place where they study, and then they place a little piece of candy on top of each letter. Then, when the child pronounces the letter for the first time, they give him the candy, and the rabbi who is teaching says, “Because we want them to associate the sweetness of the candy with the letter of the word.”

See how intelligent that is, right? I believe that if we want educated children, we parents have to do this with our children. Perhaps you did not have the blessing and good fortune of being raised in a home where books, education, study, and culture were prominent. But look, you can begin in the name of the Lord. Change the culture; change the course of your family’s generations, and begin by faith. Young parents, begin exposing your children to these things. That young woman and her family who came to the front here with that beautiful little girl, that baby—hey, buy her books while she is still tiny, right now. Go to Walmart and buy her first little book if she does not already have one, and feed her; give her the milk of knowledge to drink.

Let us take our children to a museum, to a concert, to an art exhibition. Even if you have never been to the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston, do not be afraid; go in the name of the Lord. On Saturdays, I believe it is even much cheaper, and admission is free for certain ages. And there are times when the museum has special events. Look, even if you have never been to a museum, even if you look at a work of art and do not know whether it is upside down or right side up, go anyway. Take your children. Perhaps they will balk and protest, but let them get a taste of it and enjoy the atmosphere; get them in there. Expose them to it; take them, at least, and little by little they will learn. We have to overcome that inertia, but we must make the effort.

There are so many concerts that are free or inexpensive, and even if you have to make an investment, take your children to a good concert one day and dress them nicely. Make it something special, and afterward go to McDonald’s and have a hamburger with a Coca-Cola there, but let them feel that it is something special in their lives, right? But let us expose them to knowledge. The question is: Are we planning to have studious children? What is heard most often in our homes? Are we structuring our homes for the future we envision for our children—for example, through the clothes we buy for them?

By the way, let me make a brief aside here. I know we have some new believers, and we have a class for new believers. If you are taking that class and need to go over there, I will not be offended if you stand up. Do not worry; go over there. We have to get used to that, and you are more than welcome to do so, because that is part of it. But again, the clothes we buy for our children and the toys we buy for our children—what values are we instilling in them, right?

I see parents who spend a great deal of money on their children’s education. Brother, I would rather spend good money on my children’s education than on a vacation somewhere in Jamaica. If you can do both with that money, glory to God; that is wonderful. But if you have to choose, buy them the book, buy them good clothes for school, and invest in a good school if you can—Christian or private, whatever it may be. Enroll them in a music class, take them to I Wanna on Friday night, take them to the youth service; invest in your children.

I say that we must invest a great deal of money in our children’s education and create homes where culture is everywhere, so that they breathe in that atmosphere of culture, right? Another thing concerning this is that we must invest a great deal of time in our children; we must stay close to them. Work must never deprive us of the ability to remain in close contact with our children. If we want to shape them according to our values and our Christian sensibilities, we must set aside time and structure our schedules so that we can be with them continually—quality time.

Sometimes we are tired. We come home exhausted, and our tendency is to turn on the television so that it can look after them while we do other things, lie down because we are sleepy, and prepare the food. And I am speaking to the men, to the males: Please, let us not leave the children’s education solely to the mothers. We rebuke the devil in the name of the Lord; that theory that the mother is the one who educates the children is a doctrine spawned in hell. Listen to me: It is so important for fathers to make time for the moral and ethical education of their children. Listen to me.

Men, you do not realize how important it is for your daughters and sons, when they grow up and move to another city or wherever it may be, to have the memory of a father who sat beside them, protected them, and invested in them. It is so important for this to be so. We cannot leave the work of shaping our children’s sensibilities to television, the school, or even the Church. I will conclude—I know our time is already up—by once again reinforcing this word of blessing and confidence.

Verse 4 says: “Do not fear, for you will not be confounded; and do not be ashamed, for you will not be disgraced. Instead, you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood, for your husband is your Maker; the Lord of Hosts is His Name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” Glory to the name of the Lord.

Brother, sister, perhaps you are going through some tribulation with your children; perhaps you even feel a little ashamed. The Lord says, “Do not be ashamed; you will not be disgraced. Do not fear; you will not be confounded, because God is—your husband is your Maker.” Perhaps there are single mothers here who feel they lack the presence of a man to support them and stand behind them. Hey, you have a husband who is better than any man, in the name of the Lord. You have the God of Hosts on your side; God is with you. Do not be ashamed, do not fear, do not retreat; God is more than enough.

If you do not have the support of a husband, daughter of God, God is more than enough to give you victory and help you move forward. And if things have not gone so well for you and you feel a little ashamed and sad, do not worry, because in the long run the Lord will give you victory, for He is committed to you. God will ensure that our children follow the right path and that, in the end, we have the victory.

How beautiful. I will conclude with that word of comfort from verses 15 through 17. It says: “If anyone conspires against you, he will do so without Me; whoever conspires against you will fall before you. Behold, I created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire and brings forth the tool for his work, and I have created the destroyer to destroy”—in other words, “I have control over him because I created him for a purpose”—“no weapon forged against you will prosper, and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their salvation will come from Me, says the Lord.”

So, brothers and sisters, God comforts you this morning; God instills a word of hope in you. I bless you in the name of the Lord. Let us put our hands to the plow once again with a word of victory that no one can steal from us. Although the journey and the process may be somewhat involved and complex, in the end God will ensure that our children enter the heavenly fold and become what He wants them to be and what we also desire them to be. May the Lord bless you, and mothers, we love you; we bless you in the name of the Lord and declare God’s grace over your lives. You are an inspiration to us.

Let us stand and thank God for His goodness and His mercy in this place today, and for being able to be part of a family in which all the resources of heaven are working in our favor. Therefore, there is no way for us ultimately to fail. Some of us will triumph sooner, others a little later, but we will all reach the goal, says the Lord.

So thank You, Father. Fill our hearts with Your comfort on this day. We leave here confident that You are going with us. Defeat is not an option for us. If any of us has fear in our heart, if we have doubts, we confess that You are good and that Your mercy endures forever. Thank You, because You have not called us to failure but to victory. Fill our mothers with double wisdom.

Above all, we pray for those young mothers, for those single mothers, and for those who are battling for their children. Fill their hearts with peace, joy, and a holy expectation of blessing. You are our foundation; we trust in You, and You will give us all the resources we require. We bless our youth and our children in this Church. Help us to be a family-oriented Church that provides solid structures for our children’s future. We thank You, Lord, in the Name of Jesus. Amen and amen. God bless you, brothers and sisters. May the grace of the Lord be with you on this day.