Proverbs 22:6, New King James Version

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I recently had the blessing of being invited to speak at a local men’s breakfast. Leading up to it I had no idea what I was going to speak about, but the night before the breakfast I woke up and the Lord placed a word in my mind, “Father”. I immediately knew what it was that the Lord was leading me to speak about at the breakfast. As I was driving to the breakfast, I was seeking the Lord more about what about being a father was the Lord seeking for me to talk about. It was not until I stood up to begin speaking that I truly knew what He was asking me to say.

I believe there are many Christian men with children who, like the prodigal son, are lost in the world. They may have grown up in a Christian family and been around believers, but they are out trying to make their own way. I know in my own life, my primary desire is for my children to know Christ and to follow Him, seeking to obey what He has told us to do with our lives. When that does not happen, the enemy is quick to bring discouragement into our minds. The enemy will whisper in our ears that we have failed as a father. But I want to encourage the fathers and mothers who are reading this today. Every single person must come to accept Christ themselves. Out responsibility as parents is simply to ensure that our children see Christ in our lives. We seek to plant seeds in their lives, but it is only the Lord who can make them grow. No matter what it is that you may see taking place in the lives of your children today remember this, Jesus can shine light into the darkness and can make a way where there seems to be no way at all.

When we think about the story of the prodigal son, we often focus on the son who went away or the son who stayed with his father. But, what about the perspective of the father? We know that the father in this parable represents God our Father. He is a perfect father and yet, he had two very different sons. They both would ultimately be with Him, but they each had to come to that relationship on their own. But the Father never lost sight and never lost hope that his prodigal son would return home.

Do not allow the enemy to speak discouragement into your heart and your mind and do not allow the enemy to tempt you to give up on your children. The Lord has a plan for your children’s lives, and He knows the right time, the right place, and the right circumstances to reach them.