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Children Need a Crisis of Faith: Seven Lessons from Parenting Through Doubt<\/h4>\nChildren Need a Crisis of Faith: Seven Lessons from Parenting Through Doubt<\/h4>\nMy wife and I have five children. Our oldest two have exited childhood and are adventuring into the uncharted territory of their young adulthood. Our younger three are navigating the tricky waters of adolescence. As parents, we have the sacred, marvelous, daunting, and sometimes painful privilege of sharing in all these unique life-journeys.<\/p>\n
As a rule, I am slow to offer parenting advice. We are still too much in the thick of it to be qualified experts. Most of the time we\u2019re looking to receive, not dispense, counsel.<\/p>\n
And one wonderful new source of counsel we\u2019ve discovered is our (now) adult children. Their experiences of childhood and adolescence, and the good and not-so-good ways we parented them, are still fresh. But there\u2019s sufficient distance for them to maturely reflect on their experiences and enough trust between us (thank you, God!) for them to share with us honestly. It\u2019s precious and humbling when your child matures into your counselor.<\/p>\n
Recently, my wife was sharing with one of our adult children some of the spiritual wrestlings and questions of their younger siblings. Our adult child replied, \u201cThat\u2019s where it all begins.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was the wise reply of one whose wisdom was hard won. They spoke from experience, having endured difficult and sometimes dark seasons of profound spiritual struggles during their own adolescence. And they discovered in these seasons what nearly all saints discover sooner or later: the Light of the world shines brightest in the darkness \u2014 in our own darkness (John 1:5). Coming to really see, savor, treasure, and trust Jesus Christ almost always begins in a crisis.<\/p>\n
And this has unnerving implications for Christian parents: if our children are going to see the Light, they very likely must endure darkness. Which means we will endure it with them, and experience a powerlessness over the outcome we find hard to bear.<\/p>\n
As parents, we spend a lot of time and energy trying to protect our children from the forces of evil and sin in the world, which we should. And we try hard to point them to the gospel so they escape the horrible slavery of their own sin, which we should. We comfort, reassure, and counsel; we admonish, reprove, and rebuke, which we should.<\/p>\n
But all the efforts we pour into protecting and teaching our children can make us susceptible to the deception, even if we know better, that if we do our job right, our children will sail from young childhood into adulthood on untroubled seas, arriving with a robust faith in Christ. We forget that this wasn\u2019t even Christ\u2019s own experience in \u201cparenting\u201d his disciples. It was on the troubled sea<\/span><\/a>, not on tranquil waters, where the disciples began to grasp what faith really means (Luke 8:22\u201325).<\/p>\n Our children may have to ride on a violent sea, one we fear will swallow them, before they really learn to fear and trust Christ. As parents, then, we must prayerfully prepare for when those sea billows roll, because it will be a scary ride for us too.<\/p>\n While I\u2019m reluctant to give parenting advice, my wife and I have ridden enough waves with our children to share some lessons, not<\/em> as an expert on parenting through a child\u2019s faith crisis, but as a fellow sojourner sharing from my experience \u2014 my own faith crises<\/span><\/a>, as well as my children\u2019s.<\/p>\n Actually, do more than expect it; pray for it. By \u201cfaith crisis,\u201d I don\u2019t mean the loss of faith \u2014 a period of apostasy \u2014 though for some that may be what a crisis looks like. What I mean is whatever event(s) God knows is needed to call forth real faith in our child \u2014 a season or set of circumstances when they are faced with a crisis that forces them to exercise their own faith and experience for themselves that God exists and is the rewarder of those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Praying for our child\u2019s faith crisis sounds strange, I know. But if we want our child\u2019s deepest joy, we will pray for the testing of their faith (James 1:2\u20134).<\/p>\n God has taught you to walk by faith, and not by sight, in particular ways. But it\u2019s likely that he will deal differently with your child. They may struggle in ways and over issues and questions you haven\u2019t. The unfamiliar may seem frightening. But it\u2019s not unfamiliar to God.<\/p>\n There comes a point when God decides to use means quite apart from us to teach our children to trust him. He doesn\u2019t typically inform us in advance when he begins. We just rather suddenly find ourselves on the periphery of our child\u2019s struggles, not allowed the same access or influence we used to have (or thought we had). We\u2019re unsure where this car is going, and it\u2019s not in our power to steer it. We must resist panicking or the urge to try to seize the wheel, both of which only tend to make things worse. Such a moment often becomes a faith crisis for us too, where we must learn to trust God with our children in whole new ways.<\/p>\n During one point of crisis, one of my children confided that they didn\u2019t feel safe discussing with me certain theological questions they were wrestling through. Their dad was a ministry co-founder and bi-vocational pastor at our church. It felt like there was only one acceptable place to land.<\/p>\n Since then, I have tried to share with all my children more of my own faith journey, crises and all, that brought me to where I now am. And I\u2019m seeking to be more explicit with my children that, while I hold my theological convictions sincerely, I do not expect them to uncritically adopt them from me, or necessarily arrive quickly in adolescence where it\u2019s taken me years, and plenty of testing, to reach.<\/p>\n We can\u2019t always control whether we are perceived as a safe place to our children, but as much as possible, we must seek to be a safe place for them to discuss hard questions and to be in process without judgment. It\u2019s not easy for an invested parent. But we must strive to be (especially) quick to hear and slow to speak.<\/p>\n We must try to keep our child\u2019s faith crisis in perspective \u2014 no matter how long. We are not God. We do not have foreknowledge. We must not assume we know how the story will end. Most biblical characters had life chapters that looked like their train was going off the rails at some point.<\/p>\n We are not the authors of our children\u2019s story. Neither are they. God is the Author. God does not call us to determine the outcome of our children\u2019s faith. He calls us to \u201cdwell in the land [of parenting] and befriend faithfulness\u201d (Psalm 37:3). Our aim is to follow Jesus faithfully, speak what he gives us to say faithfully, and to love the children God gives us as well as we can, come what may.<\/p>\n Part of faithfulness is not to cease praying for our children to be \u201cborn again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead\u201d (1 Peter 1:3) and filled with the knowledge of God\u2019s will with all spiritual wisdom and insight (Colossians 1:9).<\/p>\n This is the beginning and the end of parenting our children, whether on stormy waves or still waters. We want our children to reach maturity in Christ. \u201cFor this [we] toil, struggling with all [God\u2019s] energy that he powerfully works within [us]\u201d (Colossians 1:29). But we do not trust ultimately in our toil; we trust ultimately in God\u2019s power. And when our children endure various crises of faith, we \u201cwait for the Lord\u201d (Psalm 27:14).<\/p>\n So much more can and should be said. I\u2019m very aware that our children\u2019s faith crises, and what has precipitated them, and how long they last, are as varied as people and experiences vary. I know as parents these can be frightening moments because, for some, a crisis results in the rejection rather than the realization of faith. But even then, it\u2019s not the end of the story.<\/p>\n Parenting is not for the faint of heart. It\u2019s for the heart of faith, the one for whom God is the strength of their heart (Psalm 73:26). He is the author and perfecter of our faith \u2014 and our children\u2019s faith (Hebrews 12:2). As the great cloud of biblical and historical witnesses remind us (Hebrews 12:1), often, when a crisis hits, that\u2019s where it all begins.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2018 Originally published by Jon Bloom Desiring God.org<\/span><\/a> where the featured image was sourced-All rights reserved<\/p>\n Children Need a Crisis of Faith: Seven Lessons from Parenting Through Doubt My wife and I have five children. Our oldest two have exited childhood and are adventuring into the uncharted territory of their young adulthood. Our younger three are navigating the tricky waters of adolescence. As parents, we have the sacred, marvelous, daunting, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":19314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family","8":"wp-image-borders","9":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/give-your-teenager-to-god-qhxwe9eq.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4bgnN-51v","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19313"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19626,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19313\/revisions\/19626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Faithfully Parenting<\/h4>\n
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Expect your child to experience a faith crisis.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Expect your child\u2019s crisis will be different from yours.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Expect to feel somewhat helpless.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Seek to be a safe place in a crisis.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Do not mistake a chapter for the story.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Aim for faithfulness.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Pray without ceasing.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Trust God.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Where It All Begins<\/h4>\n
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