WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?

^{From Beth:}

^{One of the struggles parents frequently share with us at Hope at Home is a nagging and sometimes overriding feeling of inadequacy to parent and love the children God has brought into our families. I doubt there is a one of us who will not experience these uncomfortable feelings at some point or another over the years of parenting. I find it so very comforting to look at some of the stories God was careful to include in His Word when I feel this way. They remind me that I am not alone when I face tough situations with little or nothing to bring to the answer. 
Over and over we see it played out in scripture-- that which appears weak, indeed that which is weak, is transformed into the very strength needed to take down the mightiest of problems.}

How often have I, when faced with a big problem, gone straight to the big answer--at least, what looks on the surface like a big answer. And that right there is where many of us get stuck. We look around, and we look within, and we have no such big answer. Help! Clearly there are times when what I bring to the problem is no where near what is needed. This is a mighty problem! Where is my might answer?!

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty (1 Corinthians 1:27)

I love that God let's us know up front that He actually chooses, not by default but by His own volition, to use the weak things of this world to put those mighty problems to shame. Now that right there is some good news my friends-- at least, it is for me! This amazing adventure of adoption has been a blessing to Stephen and me in so many ways, one of which is the coming to the end of ourselves so that we can better enjoy the strength of the Lord in our lives. 

So, like David, we pick up the little parenting weapon at hand, and put our trust in the Lord and what He has said about us and about our children, and we take that giant of a problem down. (1 Samuel 17)

Like the little boy who shared his lunch on that hillside all those years ago, we offer our few loaves and fish, give thanks, and start meeting the need with what we have in our hands. (John 6)

Like Moses, we may hear God ask, "What is that in your hand?" And maybe we feel a bit confused because all we have is an ordinary, run-of-the-mill rod that is our parenting wisdom/skill/experience, and surely that is not what God is going to use to put the mighty problem before us to shame. What is needed is a mighty weapon that will part the waters between our child and healing, not an unimpressive stick used in the every-day shepherding of our flock. (Exodus 4)

So, dear parent, I sense God asking us today, "what is that in your hand?" For he knows who I am and all about the little bit that I bring to this parenting journey. He sees my few pebbles of patience, my little sling shot of adoption wisdom, my loaves of trauma training and education, my few fish of understanding, and my walking stick of attachment techniques. It seems that He has got our backs in this situation. He has chosen you and me, knowing we are weak, to do the very mighty things we are desiring to see in our homes, and more!

If God makes the considered decision to use what seems foolish and unimpressive to us to put the mighty to shame, then I want to learn to make the same decision myself the next time I am aware of my inadequacies as a parent. Let us trust God for giants to fall, massive needs to be met in abundance, and deliverance for the captives, because He has not despised the weak things of the world! He has chosen to use us, especially when we are foolish and weak, to parent each precious life, each son and each daughter.