A couple of them are sort of troubling to me...
"Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it"
and
"all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose"
...just to name a couple....
Why are these troubling? Because I know lots of good Christian parents who have apparently 'trained their children', only to see them turn away from 'the way'...
And I have also seen lots of folks (whom I consider to be lovers of God) who have had things happen to them and never seen how those 'things' work together for good...
I have heard people try to explain these by saying things like "God's ways are higher than ours..." or "we cannot understand the mind of God" or "we may not see the conclusion of the matter..." ... and I'm OK with those...
But sometimes I wonder if those explanations are not copouts to make us feel better...
Is it possible that these scriptures (and many like them) are intended to simply be taken at face value? ...that indeed we can believe that those who 'love God and are called according to His purpose' will be blessed with 'things working out for them'? ...and that your children will not 'depart from the way' if you truly 'train them' in that way?
I wonder if cowardice prevents us from believing God's word just as it's written... because I don't want to believe the inverse: that those children who are not in 'the way' were not trained properly in it!
....nor do I want to believe those people for whom things don't 'work together' do not love God or are not 'called according to His purpose'...
people much smarter and better educated than me will say I have misunerstood the scripture... and, on some level, I hope I have...
I know this: it makes me want to prayerfully and humbly make sure I am training my children in His 'way' and not my way.... and it gives me pause as I try to make certain I am 'called according to His purpose', not mine...
just a thought...
God Bless!
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