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An Open Letter to Parents of Students and Young Adults:
My 23 year old daughter Kim is a participant in the inaugural World
Race. Recently, during their time in Thailand, Kim and her team felt
compelled by the Holy Spirit to go to the infamous red light district of
Bangkok and pray for the people involved in the sex trade. The young
girls who have been sold into sex slavery were particularly on their
hearts. It was an amazing, emotional, gut-wrenching experience for them.
The forces of darkness were in their face all night. Kim posted a blog
about this experience, one that was both heart felt and graphic. The
post solicited some interesting comments, especially those that warned
the World Racers to “be careful.”
Before I comment further, a little background is in order. My wife,
Teresa and I raised three children in the suburbs of Jackson
Mississippi. I worked as an executive at a telecommunications company
and Teresa was a public school teacher. We were pretty much living the
American dream: nice house, nice cars, good investments, very active in
church, active in the community. But there was an underside to our
family. Kim and her twin brother Craig were both running from the Lord
as hard as they could go. Our oldest son strived to please us and most
everyone else and as a result fought his own demons.
We experienced what many of you have experienced. Long nights wondering
when the kids would come home; wondering if they would come home. Every
temptation facing teens and young adults today, our children faced them
and many times lost. Teresa spent many hours in prayer, warring for her
children. I spent many hours just being a frustrated parent.
Today I can truly praise the LORD because all of our children are
serving Jesus. But this result came with a price. The price came in the
form of two words: “release” and “trust.”
The tendency of us as parents is to protect rather than release. It’s a
big, bad world out there and we don’t want our kids to get hurt. Noble
thought, but it just doesn’t result in maturity. Also, when we release,
we lose control. That’s another thought that we would rather not
consider, although I’m not sure we were ever in control of our kids
after they hit the teen years.
The trust part is even more difficult. Didn’t God entrust them to us for
their care and upbringing? Sure He did, but there comes a time that He
asks for them back. Hanna knew this the day Samuel was born. Abraham
discovered it when God asked for the life of Isaac. Both had to entrust
God with the thing that was most precious to them. God actually asks
that of every parent that claims the name of Christ.
So, God asks us as parents to release these precious, precious people to
Him and trust Him to do the work. And the work that he has for this
generation is one of war. I’m not talking about Iraq or Iran, nor the
war on poverty nor the war on AIDS. I’m talking about a spiritual
confrontation with the enemy of God Himself. Some will be on the front
lines and some will even behind the lines working towards the victory
that Jesus promises. It’s a dangerous, hazardous place.
But what’s interesting about this place is that I see an entire
generation hungering for the battle. Why? Because it is genuine. It is
real. It is eternal. It is a cause. The Lord is calling out an entire
generation to take the nations for the cause of Christ. This is not some
wishful thinking on the part of a missionary in Africa. It is the plan
of a sovereign God to use our children to change the course of eternity
for millions of people on our planet.
But then we as parents and well-meaning loved ones constantly admonish
our children to “be careful.” If our children are to serve Christ in a
meaningful way, then they are going to be dangerous to the enemy. A lie
that I have heard from the pulpit many times is: “the safest place to be
is in the middle of God’s will.” I challenge that statement every time I
hear it. The territory of the enemy is not a safe place. But it is the
place to which true disciples are called.
If the middle of God’s will is so safe, why did the Apostle Paul write
these words? “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently,
been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three
times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was
shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been
constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger
from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles;
in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and
in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often
gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone
without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I
face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (2 Cor.
11:23b – 28)
If anyone in history, other than Jesus himself, was in the middle of
God's will, it was the Apostle Paul.
So the price that we parents must pay for our children to be in the
middle of God’s will is to release and trust. It’s a price that my wife
and I chose to pay and it’s the price we would gladly pay again. We need
to get out of the way so God can get His way. I have found that God is
faithful and true. He will never leave our children or forsake them. He
will bear them up with His mighty right hand. He will be with them
always even to the end of the age.
I know that you as parents want nothing more than what’s best for your
kids. So do yourself a favor, and more importantly do them a favor.
Release and trust. Give them back and He will raise them up to
extraordinary places.
Blessings,
Steve Kinsley
Mission Sebenzela
Johannesburg South Africa
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