Parenting With Grace Sample

Grace in Times of Trial

Facebook can be deceiving sometimes. We see pictures or videos of family vacations, parents showing off their kids’ accomplishments, or husbands and wives enjoying a romantic night out at a nice restaurant. But we hardly see any dirty diapers, children fighting with each other, or disagreements between parents. On social media, we like to present ourselves as having it all together and living the dream. But in the real world, those dreams often turn into nightmares.

When reality strikes, and struggles come, Satan plants seeds of doubt, and when they take root, they bring despair. I can’t do this… I’m weak. The temptation to throw in the towel can be great. A husband is impotent, a wife has a miscarriage, a child is born with a handicap or dies from disease or in an accident. It wasn’t anything you did; it’s just the result of living in a fallen world, where the effects of sin cause sickness and death. Is grace sufficient in these situations?

When I was in my early teens, my youngest brother, Dougie, just eighteen months old, was severely burned in a tragic accident. For two weeks, his little body hovered between life and death, then he died.

Years later, someone told me what happened the morning after his death. My dad was a professor at a Bible college. That morning, students were informed that Dougie had died during the night. Students doubted my father would come but showed up just in case. At eight o’clock sharp, my father entered and walked to the podium. The room fell silent. What could a father say at a time like this? My father began, “It is at times like these that you understand the sufficiency of God’s grace.” And he taught the class.

The trials and travails of parenting are tough. They tear at your soul and shake the foundations of your faith. They may make no sense to you right now. Only the assurance that God is gracious, that He will walk with us through the hardships of life, and that we can cast our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7) will keep us going. But His grace is sufficient.

Don’t wait for difficult times to nurture your faith in God’s grace and goodness. Make time to read His Word daily and get alone for times of prayer in the good times, and in the hard times (Ephesians 3:17). And God’s grace will sustain you.