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Spiritual lessons from the dentist's office

For the past two weeks, we've been preparing Abigail to her second visit to the dentist. Recently, they confirmed many cavities that formed in her molars. What parent would've thought their three-year old would get anethesia, get treated for cavities, then have silver fillings in their young preschooler's life? We never thought. However, as we were preparing our hearts and Abigail's this morning, God impressed some deep spiritual lessons upon our own hearts as parents.

For the past year, it's been quite the natural thing for us to treat Abigail to sweets, especially during meetings and long travels on the road. Such treats would shorten the long hours of possible boredom. We confess that we often blamed "others" for spoiling her with junk food and treats. However, WE allowed her to receive all that into her little mouth. All these variations of trying to "please her" and "make her happy" caused deep cavities that had to be extracted. As a little girl, once she tasted candy for the first time, she obviously wanted more and more. Only a few months ago, when she was able to exercise self-control in our absence, did she finally have the ability to refuse such offers, however tempting they were.

Lately, God has been....

impressing upon our hearts to raise the spiritual standard in our home. When we have a family filled with His Spirit, His presence, His worship, prayers throughout the day, His Word spoken and lived out at home, it's our conviction that our children would not want anything else even as they grow older. Someone has written: "Your children involved in spiritual gifts will not have time or desire to drift away or backslide." What are we doing as parents for our children to experience God in such a real way? We may be doing a lot, but one thing God spoke to us is that we cannot compromise what we feed our children. A little candy here and there for instant pleasures, a little raisin here and there - hey, earth's natural food seems okay. This was our thinking, but the end result is a mouth full of cavities...because inside each of these foods was sugar. Spiritually, it's the same message. A little here and there should be okay....even the seemingly "okay" things. We are learning to say "NO" to even "okay" things. We are trying to utilize our time to research on innocent songs like "Ring around the rosie" discovering the message of death behind this innocent nursery rhyme.

As we took Abigail to the dentist, watched her lie on the humungous adult dental chair, get her kiddie "bib" and finally get the huge injection in, our hearts just ached. It took an hour for the entire procedure. The most amazing thing was that Abigail just sat there, so still because the dentist told her she had to. She didn't make a sound nor oppose to any foreign objects entering her mouth, chiseling away the "sin" of all the sweets. Over the years, we continued to pray for tenderness in our children, and that is exactly what we witnessed in Abigail today. Her tenderness. We imagined her coming before God one day to deal with certain sins that may have accumulated in her life. We can imagine God allowing her seasons of pain and refining, to chisel out things from her life. All we can do as parents is to witness her going through it. WE cannot take her place, no matter how much we would want her to evade such hardship. Yet, today, we saw such a tenderness which we pray will continue to grow in her life...Such a tender spirit will allow her to come before her God and say "yes Lord, do your surgery in my heart today. Extract my spiritual cavities and cover me with Your blood. I want to be clean. I choose to be clean and make God-glorifying decisions that will keep me pure before You."

Until she comes to that age of accountability and make choices for herself, God is calling us as parents to make the wise choices for her - from simple things as food, to bigger spiritual matters. instead of enjoying the pleasures this world may offer her even as a young girl, it's our God-given responsibility to have her taste what is good, satisfying, and eternal NOT what gives instant pleasures with lasting, painful consequences.

March 28, 2006

"God wants to reign unchallenged"

Our church just had our annual Deeper Life Conference. It was another turning point in our lives and church as we were challenged to enter a deeper intimacy with God. We looked at the life of the beloved disciple, John, who quickly left his job and family to follow Jesus. He was the one who laid his head on the breast of the Savior, felt the hearbeat and breath of our Lord. And out of such intimacy came the glorious revelation of our Messiah. We were deeply challenged to enter into such intimacy that will lead us into the vision of Christ.

The example of God's call for Abraham to lay his promised son on the altar is an example for us to follow. "This child Isaac had become for Isaac his delight and even the idol of his heart. He was an eager love slave of his son. This baby represented everything sacred to his father's heart: the promises of God, the covenants, the hopes of the years and the long messianic dream. As he watched him grow from babyhood to young manhood, the heart of the old man was knit closer and closer with the life of his son, till at last the relationship borded upon the perilous. It was then that God stepped in to save both father and son from the consequences of an uncleansed love..." As God forbade Abraham from laying a hand on his precious son on the altar, God was basically saying this: "I never intended that you should actually slay the lad. I only wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart that I might reign unchallenged there. I wanted to correct the perversion that existed in your love. Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me."

Often we see material and wordly things and status as the obvious idols in our lives. God is clearly showing us that even good and godly things have become idols, for He does not reign in our hearts unchallenged. Our spouses, children, ministry, people, visions, missions, even our faithful and joyful service to the Lord have become perverted idols for they often take precedence in our hearts before God Himself. We pray that we would fear the Lord and have Him as our very first and all in our hearts. Intimate friendship with God is our goal. When we meet God face to face, all other things will be stripped away from us, except our relationship with Him. Isn't this then the most valuable thing to invest our lives in? Here's a little excerpt from AW Tozer's "Pursuit of God": the blessedness of possessing nothing.

March 17, 2006