He Would That We Could See!

​One of the things that every parent wants their children to be able to do is to distinguish between what is good and what is not. What is beneficial to them and what is destructive. As parents we often feel that children automatically know how to maneuver through this life making all the right decisions and staying clear of all the wrong ones. It is a ridiculous assumption because we were never able to do that in our lives. So getting angry with our children when they make foolish decisions is not the right response. A far more appropriate one is to take them through their decisions and help them to understand where they got off course and how they can successfully get back on.

Another component is one that is one that should be our first response, but often is not. What is that – to pray:

I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! Ephesians 1:18 (MSG)

The Apostle Paul recognized that the church at Ephesus would need more than a preacher and a choir director to help this young church navigate through this Christian life. They would need a "discernment" that could both see and hear clearly the voice of God and the plan of God for their lives. He wanted them to be able to completely lay hold of a vision of the "glorious way of life that He has for his followers". That they would recognize that what He had called them to do was no small task, but that God had also equipped them to to have the strength and the capacity to do it.

So it is with all of our lives. Making wrong choices comes easy to us because we usually don’t come here with great vision and insight into the plans God has for us. Thinking that we KNOW what we want often leads us into strange and dangerous pathways that often have dire results. We all can thank God for His mercy, which suits all of our case. However as the Winans sang so long ago:

It’s good to know that He’ll be there whenever we fall,

It’s better to know we don’t have to fall at all-

He’s able to keep us.

Maria