Parenthood Takes Faith

Nothing delights the senses much more than holding a freshly scrubbed baby. Feather-soft hair tickles your nose, along with the faint fragrance of shampoo and baby powder. How innocent an infant appears, unspoiled by the world's hurts and cares, and completely dependent on the care of others! It's a privilege to watch a tiny child grow up.

Yet I have to admit, few things have stretched my faith more than parenting my children. Now, don't get me wrong. I love my son and two daughters more than I can put into words. They are indeed "a heritage from the Lord" (Psalm 127:3).

But so many known dangers lurk in the present, and so many unknown dangers lie in the future, it takes faith simply to bring a child into the world at all. Oddly enough, as my children have grown more independent, I've found myself needing to depend more than ever on God. That's because the things a parent can control—bathtimes, mealtimes, and bedtimes—rapidly give way to things we can't control.

It takes faith to introduce children to the wonderful complexities of books and school and friends and freedom while you pray they'll make the right choices. It takes faith to hand your 16-year-old the car keys, to move your 18-year-old into a college dorm, and to watch your grown sons and daughters struggle to find their places in the world. Most parents can recall times we were gone when we should have been around, times we were quick-tempered when we should have been patient, and times we lectured when we should have listened. It takes faith to remember God's grace is sufficient.

Parents had to exercise faith during Bible times, too. We admire the faith of young David; but what did his parents think when he ventured forth to fight Goliath? What was it like for Mary's parents when their virgin daughter gave birth in a Bethlehem stable? Did they share Mary's emotional agony as she watched Jesus die on the cross? James and John left the family fishing business to become Jesus' disciples, and "left their father Zebedee in the boat" (Mark 1:20). When Mrs. Zebedee later lobbied for her sons to receive special places of honor in Jesus' kingdom (Matthew 20:20-23), was it because she and her husband remained keenly aware of what following Jesus had cost their family? No doubt Zebedee and his wife found their faith tested again when King Herod had their son James killed with a sword (Acts 12:2).

One day an exhausted father brought his son to Jesus. It's clear the man loved his boy; but the innocence of infancy was no more than a distant memory, for the lad had fallen into the grip of Satan and narrowly survived several brushes with death. No one, it seemed, could do anything to help.

Near the end of his rope, the desperate father told Jesus, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

The Lord responded, "'If you can'? Everything is possible for him who believes." Then Jesus healed the boy and freed him from Satan's power (Mark 9:14–27).

Where shall we turn when our precious babies grow bigger—and so do their problems? What shall we do when we can't make their hurts go away with a kiss and a bandage, and the daunting task of parenthood seems impossible to fulfill? That weary father's plea to Jesus provides a good place to start: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"