We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,and the wonders that he has done. . . so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments . Psalm 78:4, 7
Kids have selective deafness. They can ignore the loud voice telling them to go clean their room yet quite easily concentrate on the whisper of a friend. In a way, I guess we all do. We filter out what we do not want to hear. At times, we even filter out God.
I used to think I had to come across as the perfect Christian in order to convince my son that Jesus was Lord. If I appeared to have it all together and quote memorized Scripture for every circumstance, I’d be doing what David says we should do in this Psalm. I’d be fulfilling my motherly duty to pass the Word onto the next generation. It didn’t work. Instead, my son withdrew from “organized religion” because he thought it was false and two-faced.
Then, I began to tell him instead what God was doing in my life, what trials and doubts I had and how He came through for me. Maybe now my grown son sees a more realistic view of my walk with Christ by my side and the Holy Spirit in me – flawed, sometimes stumbling, but always determined to move on and confident that He will help me back on my feet. My son also knows I pray for him and has told me he has felt those prayers. Perhaps, one day, he will let God help him back on his feet, but more importantly, back into the depth of his heart. That is between him and God. My job is to keep on walking with my Lord as long as I am on this planet, and be a realistic witness to the fact that human life is better with Jesus in it, no matter what happens along the way.
Show, then tell the next generation. Teach them Scripture, yes, but show them how it applies to your life. Share your realness and let them watch His glorious deeds in action working out through you, struggle after struggle and joy after joy. Then, perhaps, they will see they can let God into their not so perfect lives to do the same – and set their hopes on God.
