God is Near

 

Encouragement for Parents of Teenagers 695x181

God is Near

We’ve been talking about the family’s role as the primary learning community. That sounds good, but what does it actually look like? Sometimes our Christian faith gets kind of “fuzzy” when we try to relate biblical truth to everyday life situations. We may quote an out-of-context Bible verse hoping it will motivate them to do the right thing. Let’s take a look at how theology begins to impact our parenting.

Practical Theology

Theology is the study of God: His existence, His nature, and His works. It is not meant to be a theoretical classroom study; theology should impact our faith and our lives. Our goal as Christian parents is to root our children’s identity in the existence and glory of God. We need to see everything in light of that and help our teens see who God is, what He is doing, and what He wants us to be doing.

Every Moment is God’s Moment

It is important that our children do not come to believe in a God who is distant and uninvolved, only coming to the rescue when we cry out in prayer. The Bible presents God as near and active in our lives.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

When facing loneliness, helplessness, or hopelessness, encourage your teenager that there is never a situation or even a moment in which God is absent or not involved.

“that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us,”  Acts 17:27 (ESV)

In any situation your children face, the most important thing they can learn is that it is not about what they want or desire, but it is about what God is doing. What they think they need most is much less important than how they will respond to the situation; whether they get the car, the shoes, the position on the team… whatever it is.

Focus on God

Teenagers tend to be filled with themselves and view the world as revolving around them. They know what they want and they often wallow in self-pity, grumble, complain, or burst out in anger when their will is not done. They often forget to consider God and His sovereign will. They can develop a sense of entitlement and don’t handle disappointment well. Our first response is often to say something like “deal with it!” or “get used to disappointment.” But instead we can help them direct their focus back to God, rather than being so obsessed with the horizontal and the present. Keep bringing them back to God!

I’m praying for you. Let me know how I can help or better serve you and your family.

in HIS service,

Pastor Mark

Age of OpportunityP.S. The themes and main ideas come from Paul David Tripp’s book “Age of Opportunity”. I’m summarizing what I read, adding my own thoughts and Scripture too.

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