What do parents need no more of….? What could they need?

Here is what parents don’t need more of in our part of the world today - discouragement. Our world exhales discouragement, and parents don’t to be loaded up with more discouragement.

On Sunday we saw in the sermon from Genesis 25:28, that Isaac loved Esau because he ate off his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

What we see in this overview of their lives, is that Esau and Jacob live their lives under the sovereignty of God, with their lives being shaped by their own actions…even their parents’ actions. We even see shape of things in verse 28, where there is a degree of parental favouritism.

Of course Isaac and Rebekah loved their sons, yet because there is pain in child raising, there is falleness that befalls all parenting. Parents who live in reality know that our role is not to point at other people to say that they don’t do discipline well, so we don’t parent well, or we view ourselves by comparison to others that we are better parents than this “tax collector” parent.

Friends, we need to heed the warning that the Scriptures graciously give us again and again. Namely that, pride comes before a parenting fall. The leadership of Reforming sees one of the pressure points in parents lives at this very moment where we live and move and have our being. In our part of the world, parents often feel under-equipped and overwhelmed.

Parents are often discouraged and need encouragement, and we as leaders of Reforming are praying and planning how we may continue to serve in this area.

For we are all failures, we all need grace, and we all look at Isaac and Rebekah and see their faults in their favouritism…. and see reflections of our own reality. The good news is, our Father in heaven knows what parents need, so he sent his perfect son to save and heal us from our imperfect and discouraged lives.

Just like Genesis 25 looks forward to how Jesus is the true, new and better Jacob - we see he has come to give encouragement to parents as they disciple their children. So let’s pray for parents who are members of our church, and those who are our neighbours. Let’s look to the one who gives grace upon grace to his children.

Remember, dear church, that we are always reforming.

Semper Reformanda,

your pastor and friend.