A Nurturing Mother: Teach Your Children to Rely on God

 

In 2 Chronicles 14, we read about King Asa, the King of Judah. The account of his life starts out well saying, “And Asa did good and right in the sight of the LORD his God” (14:2). The Chronicler continues by recounting the good things Asa did: removing foreign altars and high places, tearing down sacred pillars, cutting down Asherim, and commanding Judah to seek the LORD (14:3,4). Furthermore, we read that the kingdom was undisturbed, and the LORD had given him rest on every side. Even in the midst of an attack from the Ethiopians with a million man army, Asa boldly calls to the Lord and says, “LORD, there is no one besides Thee to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in Thee, and in Thy name have come against this multitude. O LORD, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee” (14:11). And the LORD responded to Asa’s prayer by routing the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians fled and they were “shattered before the LORD, and before His army” (14:13). It’s an amazing account of Asa’s reliance upon the Lord in the face of immense opposition in which he knew he could not win unless the LORD acted on their behalf. Asa continues his good reforms and encouraging the people of Judah to seek after the LORD with their whole heart. And for thirty-five years of his reign, there was no war (15:19).

            Then, in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, Asa is being threatened by Baasha the king of Israel. Note Asa’s response: he brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and sent them to Ben-hadad, King of Aram, to make a treaty with him and gained his help, and the threat from Basha was removed. However, a few verses later, Hanani comes to Asa and says, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the whole earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars” (16:8-9, emphasis mine). Not long after, Asa’s feet become diseased and even in the severity of his disease, the indictment against him is “yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians” (16:12).

            In the text above, we see that Asa relied on something and someone other than the Lord. This was the indictment against him. Relied means to lean on for support, to trust in. The indictment against Asa was that he trusted in the King of Aram and he did not trust in the Lord. “Ultimately, God should be trusted and leaned on, for He will never fail.”[1] Mothers, as spiritual nurturers of their children, must teach them to rely completely on the Lord.

            This starts at a very young age. When they are afraid of any number of things, we can teach them to turn to the Lord and trust His sovereign care with their fearful circumstances. When they are sick, we can teach them to cry out to the Lord for His healing hand.  When they have lost something, we can teach them to turn even the smallest item to Him, knowing that He sees and knows all.

            As they grow, undoubtedly their concerns and cares will grow in magnitude and intensity. How much easier it will be for them during more difficult times to turn to their loving heavenly Father when they have learned to trust and rely on Him in the lesser things. What I have found is that when we teach them to look to the Lord in seemingly insignificant matters, it builds a heart of trust and confidence in God, so that when the deeper things of life are confronting them, they have practiced many times giving their concerns to the Lord. Psalm 55:22 is a great reminder for us and our children, “Cast your burdens on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Our children will not always get the answers and outcomes they desire, even in the little things they pray about when they are young. But this is yet another opportunity to teach them that our God is always good and always does what is right and good for His children. He will always sustain us as we look to Him. Even when we and they do not understand the withholding of their request, we can tenderly lead them to continue to come confidently to the Lord, trusting Him.

            My desire, as a mother, is to see my children turning to the Lord and giving their requests to Him before I even have reminded them. My desire it to see them depending on Him in prayer, knowing that He governs all our ways and all our circumstances and accepting by faith His sovereign will in their lives. Ultimately, the Lord will have to do the work that is necessary in their hearts to cause them to depend and rely on Him. But we can encourage and model for them how to rely on Him and not our own effort or ingenuity when facing problems in this life. We can encourage them that we can cast our cares on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

            Finally, even in our efforts to teach and train, we know that God will bring them to situations where He will challenge them to rely, not on themselves, but on Him. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9). Paul and his companions were “burdened excessively, beyond their strength” (2 Cor. 1:8), but this caused them to depend on God. For sure, their circumstance was dire, seemingly beyond hope, but they knew the God of hope and the God who raises the dead.  We want our children, as much as depends on us, to be prepared to trust and rely on the Lord when they reach situations where they feel burdened excessively and beyond their strength. Teach them now, and throughout life, to go to the Lord, the Ruler of all, and to rest and rely on Him.

“Doubtless the reader has been tried with the temptation to rely upon the things which are seen, instead of resting along upon the invisible God…Is not God enough for your need, or is his all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants? Dost thou want another eye beside that of him who sees every secret thing? Is his heart faint? Is his arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if he be infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, and all-wise, why gaddest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why dost thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build thereon? Christian,…build for thyself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.” –Charles Spurgeon

[1] The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament.

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