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“God is a God of order. God doesn’t think His order is the ‘right way’ or the ‘best way’ – He thinks it’s the only way!” (Robert Morris).
This summer my husband and I were given a choice. We could either take the easy way out and “keep peace,” or tackle a behavior that on the outside looked annoying and innocent, but had a longer lasting potential for disaster. We chose the latter.
One child in particular was refusing to submit to our authority. Modern society could argue that it wasn’t really an issue of not obeying our rules, instead said child was just trying out independence. It was a natural step in the “breaking free” process. Or maybe our child was just a born leader and therefore submitting to parental authority was something that didn’t come naturally. On the contrary. My mother heart knew differently. I knew we weren’t dealing with a clever child trying to get out of doing chores or fine-tuning some terrific lawyer skills. No, we were dealing with a heart issue.
How did I know this, you might ask? By examining the heart behind the words. Said child debated everything. From chores to food to hobbies. It didn’t matter what the issue or request. This particular child wanted to be in charge and resented having to submit to anyone. My husband and I realized, though, we want our children to learn the important lessons while still living at home. We realized if our children can’t learn to submit to our authority, people who are seen and heard and felt, then they would continue to struggle submitting to God’s authority. It was shown very clearly to us, it’s our job to guide regarding submission. Our children have the choice whether or not to accept the teaching, but our job nevertheless was to instruct.
Do you have a similar issue in your life? If so, how have you handled it, or how are you handing it currently?
© 2013 Cheri Swalwell