I read through the first six chapters quite quickly, looking up from the book every so often to say "Wow, this is such a good book!" and read a paragraph aloud for whoever was around and might be listening.
The book is "Straight Talk To Men and Their Wives" by Dr. James Dobson, and I picked it up and started reading it in a waiting room...so glad I did! In it Dr. Dobson's talking about his father, and the influence he had on his children. It's one of those books that's actually really practical. After only one chapter I already felt like I had been encouraged, affirmed, and challenged in how I relate to the young people in my life. And as each chapter passes I am all the more encouraged! (I hope to buy it so I can read it again.)
One of the big focuses so far is prayer, something that God has been bringing up in my life over and over again this past week.
Here's a few excepts from chapter five:
I have since talked to dozens of parents whose children are grown and married. "We thought our kids had accepted our faith and beliefs," they say, "but somehow, we failed to get it across."
. . . Please believe the words of my dad, "The greatest delusion is to suppose that our children will be devout Christians simply because their parents have been, or that any of them will enter into the Christian faith in any other way than through their parents deep travail and faith."
If any of you doubt the validity of this assertion, may I suggest that you read the story of Eli in 1 Samuel 2-4.
. . . He (Eli) was apparently too busy with the "work of the church" to be a leader in his own home.
. . . It concerned me to realize that Eli's service to the Lord was insufficient to compensate for his failures at home. Then I read further in the narrative and received confirmation of the principle. Samuel, the saintly man of God, who stood like a tower of spiritual strength throughout his life, grew up in Eli's home. He watched Eli systematically losing his children, yet Samuel proceeded to fail with his family too! That was a deeply disturbing truth. If God would not honor Samuel's dedication by guaranteeing the salvation of his children, will He do more for me if I'm too busy to do my "homework"!
As I read these words I felt conviction as to the busyness in my life that often gets in the way of me pouring into the lives of the next generation. I know that Dr. Dobson was writing to parents here, but as the people of God we are all called to show His love to the children that He cares for so deeply.
Earlier this week I was sitting, deep in thought, when I suddenly felt overwhelmed with a burden for all the hurting people I pass in our little town every day. How many people who are crying out for someone to show them God's love do I walk past each day--without even giving them a second glance? I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I prayed to the Lord that He would open my eyes to see the hearts of those around me...and that I would know how to show them His love. There are so many people in our world who have never experienced true love--God's love--and I have it within me to share!
I can't even imagine living without being filled with the love of God, covered by the grace of God, and surrounded by the peace of God. And yet in the busyness of life I am often more concerned with getting to my next commitment than with stopping to share what God has freely and abundantly given me.
The desire of my heart is to be a person who truly treats their time as what it is--the Lord's. I want to be available to God. I want to live in such a way that His love would overflow from within me to all those He brings me in contact with. And I want to take the time to love the young people that God brings into my life, to show them how very much God cares for them.
We are in the midst of a spiritual battle, and the war is being waged right here in our own towns and communities. And caught in the crossfire are our children and youth, many of whom do not yet have the armor of God! ...But we do. And we need to step up, stand in the gap between them and Satan, and hold up our shields of faith to protect them.
But we can't do that if, firstly, we don't consciously clothe ourselves in the armor of God, secondly, we don't become aware of the battle waging around us, and thirdly, we don't play an active role in the lives of our young people.
Later on in the chapter I quoted from earlier, Dr. Dobson compared the passing of the gospel from one generation to the next to a relay race, likening the gospel to the baton. Dr. Dobson pointed out that it is in the passing of the baton that a race is won or lost, saying
"There is a critical moment when all can be lost by a fumble or miscalculation. The baton is rarely dropped on the back side of the track when the runner has it firmly in his grasp. If failure is to occur, it will likely happen in the exchange between generations!"
Later on Dobson said:
"Unless my son and daughter grasp the faith and take it with them around the track, it matters little how fast they run. Being first across the finish line is meaningless unless they carry the baton with them."
These last two sentences really struck me and made me pause in my reading to think. In our fast-paced culture I think it's easy to get caught up in how fast we are running in the race of life, to measure our success by how many things we have accomplished--and perhaps even by how many church programs we are involved in. But that isn't true "success" if in the process we have failed to pass on the baton.
At the end of the chapter Dr. Dobson wrote:
The urgency of this mission has taken Shirley and me to our knees.
...Furthermore, since 1971, I have designated one day a week for fasting and prayer specifically devoted to the spiritual welfare of our children.
...There are too many factors beyond our control--too many evil influences--that mitigate against the Christian message. That is why we find ourselves in prayer, week after week.
...this act of fasting each week serves to remind us continually of our system of priorities. It is very difficult to forget your highest values when one day out of seven is spent concentrating on them.
Dr. Dobson went on to talk about how his great-grandfather had prayed for an hour each morning for his children. And not only for his children, but the next four generations of his family. Dobson said that even though his great-grandfather had died before Dobson was born, this man was the greatest inspiration for him. He said: "It staggers my mind to realize that the prayers of this one man, spoken more than fifty years ago, reach across four generations of time and influence developments in my life today. This is the power of prayer and the source of my hope and optimism."
Wow. Does that not excite your heart and inspire you to be a person of prayer?! What a challenge this was to me.
The last two years, the lesson that God was teaching me was to "lay down my rights and embrace humility." I was not sure when God would be done with that last lesson and show me the next one He had for me, and I had almost begun to get "comfortable" in that. But it appears that now is the time He has chosen to nudge me forward onto the next bend on the road. I am so excited! Every time God brings up another thing He wants to teach me about and stretch me in, I am filled with an all-consuming fire and that "first love" of my Saviour all over again.
When God begins to teach me something new there is always some pain or difficulty involved in peeling back another layer of myself and being confronted with who I am, but as I do, I know that, in turn, He will be able to show me yet another layer of who He is...and who He wants me to be in Him. And that is truly the greatest joy in life. Oh to know the Lord and His heart, this is my heart's cry!
I have been blessed to be surrounded by people of prayer! From the time I was very young I noticed what a huge emphasis my mom and grandma placed on prayer. Then when we moved to Three Hills and started attending the Tab I saw the dedication to prayer of so many of the seniors in the congregation. As I got older I saw the importance of all that prayer in my life. And when I was eleven years old I decided to dedicate an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening to intercessory prayer. I quickly came to treasure that time with the Lord. And it was amazing to see how God worked in the lives of many of the people I prayed for. (For a while I even kept a prayer journal because I was just so amazed at the way God listened to and answered the prayers of "just a kid.")
Since prayer is already something I feel passionately about, I am so very excited to see what God has to teach me about and through it! As God has brought up the importance of prayer over and over again the last two weeks, that excitement has been welling up in me, and I look forward to taking this journey with Christ.
As part of this journey, I feel a burden to dedicate one day a week to fasting and prayer for the young people God has brought across my path. I would appreciate your prayers that I would be faithful to the Lord in this, that He would break my heart for the young people around me who are hurting, and that I would know how to show God's love to them.
(If you feel God laying this on your heart as well and would like to encourage and keep one another accountable, please let me know.)
Well these are just some snippets of what God has been teaching me recently. I hope that they have been an encouragement to you.
Thank you again for your prayers for me! I cannot express how much I appreciate every one of them. I am looking forward to getting back to Cameroon...and to seeing what all God has to teach me as I prepare for that. Journeying with Christ is truly an amazing thing!
Your friend and sister in Christ,
Angeline
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