GIVING OUR KIDS REASON TO HOPE
Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought. Ps. 78:4, R.S.V.
His eyes held a sadness his years could not bear. One leg draped over the arm of an overstuffed chair, he looked languid yet brittle. His mother sat helplessly nearby. "Son," she began tentatively, "is there anything I can do?" Her boy had just come home from juvenile hall, where he had been charged with drunken driving. He was failing his courses at the local high school. "Do?" he responded tonelessly. "Mom, I just don't care anymore."
Across the city, in a type of house that most people can only drive by but can never afford, a teenage girl was being accosted by her mother: "I said, turn it down!" The mother referred to the stereo in the girl's room that was blasting out one of the Top Forty tunes. "Why?" the girl asked sullenly. "What else is there?"
What else is there for these kids and so many others like them? Their parents' affluence? The Establishment and all its double standards? The threat of annihilation by nuclear war? Honestly, why should our kids hope for anything more than they can grasp quickly today? Look at our world! It's not exactly a place where happiness is the rule of thumb!
But our kids can have reason to hope! In our text today we see the answer. We can "tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought." The result of their hearing about their wonderful Father is that they will "set their hope in God" (Ps. 78:7). Notice, it says in God. If our children are given a chance to know who He is, He will be their hope!.
Can we share the right things about God if we ourselves do not hope in Him? If our believing is more theology than a warm, fresh relationship, they won't buy it! Why should they? Why should they hope that it will do for them what it hasn't done for us? If we expect, even demand, that they accept such a belief, we only increase their feelings of hopelessness by adding another requirement to their already long list.
The "wonders which he has wrought" are told best in the context of relationship. If you find that accepting the friendship of God has given you hope and courage, the chances are good that your kids will too.
Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought. Ps. 78:4, R.S.V.
His eyes held a sadness his years could not bear. One leg draped over the arm of an overstuffed chair, he looked languid yet brittle. His mother sat helplessly nearby. "Son," she began tentatively, "is there anything I can do?" Her boy had just come home from juvenile hall, where he had been charged with drunken driving. He was failing his courses at the local high school. "Do?" he responded tonelessly. "Mom, I just don't care anymore."
Across the city, in a type of house that most people can only drive by but can never afford, a teenage girl was being accosted by her mother: "I said, turn it down!" The mother referred to the stereo in the girl's room that was blasting out one of the Top Forty tunes. "Why?" the girl asked sullenly. "What else is there?"
What else is there for these kids and so many others like them? Their parents' affluence? The Establishment and all its double standards? The threat of annihilation by nuclear war? Honestly, why should our kids hope for anything more than they can grasp quickly today? Look at our world! It's not exactly a place where happiness is the rule of thumb!
But our kids can have reason to hope! In our text today we see the answer. We can "tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought." The result of their hearing about their wonderful Father is that they will "set their hope in God" (Ps. 78:7). Notice, it says in God. If our children are given a chance to know who He is, He will be their hope!.
Can we share the right things about God if we ourselves do not hope in Him? If our believing is more theology than a warm, fresh relationship, they won't buy it! Why should they? Why should they hope that it will do for them what it hasn't done for us? If we expect, even demand, that they accept such a belief, we only increase their feelings of hopelessness by adding another requirement to their already long list.
The "wonders which he has wrought" are told best in the context of relationship. If you find that accepting the friendship of God has given you hope and courage, the chances are good that your kids will too.
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