Recovery Devotional 340 The Burden of Parenthood

JMD Devotional 340 Judges 13:6-10 The Burden of Parenthood

Then the woman went and told her husband, saying, A Man of God came to me and his face was like the face of the Angel of God, to be greatly and reverently feared. I did not ask him from where he came, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, Behold, you shall become pregnant and bear a son, and now drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death. Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, O Lord, let the Man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we shall do with the child that shall be born. And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman ran in haste and told her husband and said to him, Behold, the Man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.

This barren couple earnestly sought the Lord to know how to manage the child He had given them. They wanted to know his purpose and calling, they wanted to fulfill God’s will in his life, they wanted to train and raise him properly. Oh, that every set of parents recognized the miracle of the child that God gave them! Oh, that we would make haste to seek God’s counsel on how to rear this special person! The burden of parenthood is coming to terms with our own ignorance and seeking godly counsel in raising our children.

Dear God,

I was still emotionally and mentally a child when fatherhood was thrust upon me. I was overwhelmed with the responsibility. I could not stomach the prospect of the world, through television and entertainment, shaping the character of my children. Having children drove my wife and I back into the Church, for guidance, accountability, for training in Your Word, for examples of good parenting. Forgive me for the many times I still got it wrong; the excesses of discipline, my hypocrisy and inconsistency, my harshness and critical spirit. You were training me as I was training them. Help me now to be a better grand father than I was a father; to better reflect You in my parenting. You are THE GOOD FATHER. Lead me.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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