What’s a parent to expect with each successive year? In every family,
life will bring a mix of joys and sorrows that right now we can only guess
at.
Each
of
us is, in one sense, walking down a different path with its own twists
and turns.
Make sure that both you and your child are citizens of the age to come, not just of this present age.
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But we do have something in common. We’re all trying to raise our children
in the same big landscape. So the lay of the land is worth reviewing.
Let’s start with this fact: We live simultaneously in two different countries. Jesus spoke of “this age” as opposed to the “age to come.” More often, He described the “age to come” as the “kingdom of God” — the reign of God among His people.
One of the most important things Jesus said about the kingdom of God is that it’s already here. It’s ready to move into, not just some heavenly home of the future.
So those of us who have invited God to rule our lives are caught between two worlds — two ages — that temporarily overlap. The timeline looks like this (with a thin yellow stripe for the 20th and 21st centuries):
We already sensed this to be true. We’re at rest in this land, but … not really. We’ve got our feet planted in two different time zones.
We find ourselves drawn into the same distractions and temptations that hound people who know only this valley of tears. We worry about terrorism (or our bank balance), struggle with our weight, fight with difficult relatives, and sometimes fall for lies that the TV feeds us.
Yet we often get our heads above the haze and glimpse the sparkling beauty of God’s kingdom around us. We see the lofty peaks. We feel the warm breezes that blow down from His country.
So what should a parent do at this awkward “in-between” moment in history? Make
sure that both you and your child are citizens of the age to come, not just of this present age. If you think of this world as a train, then face the fact that it’s eventually going to crash. There’s no future for any passenger who hasn’t reserved a ticket on the next express.
Joining
God’s kingdom, on Jesus’ terms, will make parenting a lot easier.
More important, it will make your lives worth living.
In addition, how should you look at your life?
First, realize that your whole life will occupy just a small slice of that part of history where the two ages have overlapped. Zoom in on that tiny yellow stripe from the previous timeline and it looks like this:
And the parenting phase of your life is just one part of it. (The blue
band is this year.)
From this, two things become obvious:
1. Whatever trial you face now in raising children at home, there’s no reason to get jittery about it because it’ll soon be over. Really. Fifteen or 20 years will pass you by faster than you imagine. This train moves fast; the landscape is a blur.
2. Since your parenting opportunity will race by quickly, you’ve got to
make the most of it. Accept the present day as an incredible, one-time
gift.
Don’t
squander
it by letting something else — your job, your hobbies, even some of your
church responsibilities — steal time or attention away from your growing
family. Give the kids priority while they’re still in your house.
There’s no guarantee that any of us will actually have a happy life. But
if
we keep the wider landscape in mind, it’ll at least be time well spent
on our way to the Kingdom.
— Ray Seldomridge
