And Now Goodbye
Isaiah 54:13
All your sons shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be their peace NIV
As a parent, we spend years teaching our children. No wonder it’s called, ‘raising your children,’ for indeed many times I found myself lifting them in prayer to my all knowing Heavenly Father. More often than not, out of sheer desperation knowing only God could intervene in situations way too critical for me to attempt to fix.
One such occasion, my son became ill with spinal meningitis. Prayer went up all over the city and state. We experienced a miracle in our son’s life. According to the doctors, he should have either died, or had permanent brain damage. He had neither. In fact, as I’ve said many times, he lived and graduated at the top of his class.
But our prayer life didn’t stop there. This experience was a real life-changing experience for me. I knew God had the power to heal, but I also realized the importance of praying with passionate faith. I learned that I needed to know how and what to ask for in my prayer life. Of course, our children were on the top of my list each day.
I learned to pray for their specific needs. Then, I prayed for wisdom, guidance, for their health, and most importantly, for their salvation. I prayed for their future spouse. Finally, I prayed that God would use our children for his glory.
1 John 5:14, 15 This is the assurance we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, what ever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him. NIV
Our children are now grown. I can, with much joy and thanksgiving, say that God has answered my prayers in his timing and according to his will and his Word. Praise God, as I grew in his Word, my faith grew to ask and believe God for greater things in their lives.
For years I dreamed of our son becoming an evangelist or pastor. I never once spoke or suggested these desires to our son. I wanted that calling to come from the Lord, and not from his zealous mother. Yet I continued in faith-filled prayer. It took many years of prayer before I saw the answer, but the answer did come!
God gave me the desires of my heart. Soon we will be saying goodbye to our son and his family as they move out of state to pastor a Church. It’s a bittersweet moment for me as a mom. On one hand, I am so proud that he has heeded the call of the Lord. On the other hand, it saddens me to say, ”goodbye.” The cord has been cut never-the-less, and it's time to give him back to God.
I know this is just the beginning of a wonderful journey walking with Jesus; and serving under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. My praying days for our son are far from over. He and his family will need constant uplifting by loved ones and his Church family, but I know that God will complete the good work he has begun in him.
