In my Position as a Parent

Parenting is perhaps the most difficult task entrusted to man by His Creator. Once you bring a child into this diabolical world, morally and in some jurisdiction by law, it is your responsibility to take care of the kid, protect and bring him/her up in a way that he/she will be accepted in society. Thus, a good parent can only be distinguished by the way and manner s/he brings his/her ward up.

Children by their nature are difficult to handle. Taking proper care of a kid involves a great deal of effort: it takes courage, love, time, fear of God and of course money to accomplish such a herculean task.

Many have irresponsibly given birth but failed abysmally to properly bring those kids up apparently because of the difficulty involved in raising kids.

Children are gift from God; therefore they must be cherished and adored at all times. “Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward.” Psalms 127:3 (KJV)

The question then is who is a parent?
A parent in simple term means a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In fact, there are many ways a person can become a parent to a child. They include; biological parent, parent by adoption or parent by surrogacy. Whichever way you become a parent, you have the responsibility to ensure the proper upbringing of that offspring.

Parenting (or child rearing) is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, financial and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the aspects of raising a child aside from the biological relationship.

Being a parent can be the most rewarding and fulfilling experience of your life, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. No matter what age your child/children is/are, your work is never done. To be a good parent, you need to make your children feel valued and loved while teaching them the difference between right and wrong. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to create a nurturing environment where your children feel like they can thrive and develop into confident, independent and caring adults.

Children obviously have needs: The need protection, love, care, safety, shelter and other necessities in order to survive in this world.

Similarly, as children of God we have needs. God exhibited His love to man in John 3:16-17 (For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.)

The parents’ roles are of maximum importance for personality development of the children. Basic traditional roles of being a parent are: nurture and educate children, discipline them, manage home and financially support family. The main idea is that parents must be child-centred and should aim to optimal growth and development of their children, to help them have satisfactory biological, social, psychological and emotional growth.

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

The fundamental role of the parent is to take care of their child’s biological needs. Providing physical care to fulfil the needs of the child imply; proper food, fresh air, good lighting, enough sleep, recreation time, etc.

In this write-up, three important issues of concern have been discussed. In the end, we would then apply how God cares for his own in the position of a parent.

The Love Factor.
The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. ~G.K. Chesterton

According to scripture, love is the greatest thing a man can ever get.

“And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13

The duty of every responsible parent is to love his or her ward no matter what. The Bible is full of great verses and passages about the topic love. God’s love for us is a perfect epitome and starting place to study love.

The point then is just as you love and care for your troublesome kids at home, in a similar manner God loves and cares for you. What is greater than a man laying down his life to save humanity? It clearly tells the degree of love God has for you even in your sinful nature. Unfortunately, we often seem to underestimate this love. Some parents have disowned their biological children irresponsibly because of one or two things the kid has done. For instance, I know a father who disowned his biological son because of One thousand Ghana Cedis he took from his business account. Count the number of times you have sinned against God and man, yet God still loves and cares about you.

Kids by their nature are very troublesome and naughty sometimes. Notwithstanding, no responsible parent will ever deny or disown his kid because s/he is bad. You wouldn’t be a good parent then.

Correspondingly, it has been our attitude towards God: very troublesome and naughty all the time. Nevertheless, God still cares for us. His love for humanity was made obvious when He permitted His only begotten son to die a humiliating death on the cross without any iota of sin, thereby creating an inviting relationship between God and His Creation. God is indeed love!

God’s love is perfect and transcends the love of a parent. If I, even been evil know how to love, how much more the one who formed and created you. Your very existence depends on him. Of late there have been ‘dumsor’ ‘dumsor’ in Ghana and people are so peeved. A lot are complaining including me. So just imagine God decides to ‘dumsor’ ‘dumsor’ the air you breathe for 60 seconds. He loves you more than the way you care for your kid as a parent. All you need is permitting him to love you. All you need is asking him.

The Need Factor
Every child has a need irrespective of his/her age, some of which they do not necessarily need to ask you as a parent before they are provided. As a responsible parent, you always try your utmost best to meet their needs even when things are difficult. This reminds me of what Jesus said in Mathew 7:11 (…..If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?)

God knows you have needs. It’s not everything that we desire need useless fasting and prayers. Listen to what Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 12:7 (Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.) What God is simply saying here is that do not worry for I know all about you and I know all your needs. You really don’t have to worry yourself by asking repeatedly. Mathew 6:25 and 26 embellish it all (Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?). This is how essential your needs are to God.

In other words, God is saying He knows all the necessary things you need on this planet to make life comfortable and that you don’t need to keep wasting time praying for those basic things. This was made obvious when God first created man. After creation, God placed man in a heavenly environment called the Garden of Eden. We are told by scripture that everything that Adam and Eve, our great grandparents needed were freely provided. God made special provision for man until the day Satan through man created enmity between God and man by making them eat the forbidden fruit which eventually saw them ousted from the glorious garden. God had good intentions for man from the beginning till man started violating his rules with our continuous arrogance and disobedience.

Still, in our sins he loves us. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. So you are so special to God.

If what the scripture is saying is anything to go by, then we as his children have nothing to worry at all. Sadly, believers think whenever the pray to God for something and it seems to be delaying a bit, we begin to doubt his existence or his love for man. When was the last time you as a parent ever denied your child anything necessary? Unless: one, you don’t have what s/he has asked for; two, the kid is asking for the wrong thing; three, he has offended you so badly at that particular time; four, you are not a responsible parent.

The good news is God has never run out of supplies. “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Sin is a barrier then.

Now, instead of allowing sin to separate you and God, I think it is better you separate yourself from sin in order to have a good relationship with your creator.

Kids Are Repetitive Offenders
Have you for once tried to bring up a really troublesome kid? That would be a great situation to handle. Bringing up a troublesome kid up is akin to carrying a coal pot of fire permanently glued on your head? The fact is man has always been a coal pot of fire permanently glued on God’s head for a very long time. We have disobeyed God on several occasions; notwithstanding, he has never for once disowned us.

As good parents, we have never denied our kids just because they have been repetitive offenders. In fact, troublesome kids do not listen to advice anyway. It was sin that ousted man out of the Garden of Eden. It was sin that saw the children of Israel in bondage for a very long time. It was sin that made a city with a relatively small population by name Ai defeated a well-trained army. In short, man is a repetitive offender. On a daily basis we sin again God and man: sometimes we sin beyond repairs. Good as He is always, He has room big enough to accommodate all your sins and iniquities. God is indeed LOVE.

A son stole GHÇ 1000.00 from his father business account and was disowned for life. That is how mortal parents can be. “We, even being evil……,” but God has enough space in his heart to accommodate all our persistent nonsense. This should tell you something: he loves you. In fact, it was as because of you that he had allowed his only son begotten son to die a humiliating death. Jesus’ death broke the barrier Satan through Adam and Eve created long ago, thereby granting us unlimited access to God. Now you no more need a hungry pastor or prophet to pray or fast for you before he hears you. All you need is permitting him.

Friend, all I sought to do in this piece is to demonstrate to you to how God cares about you just as you care about your child. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

Of course, God knows you need a husband. He knows you need a child. He knows you desperately need a job. The list continues……. He isn’t saying he won’t give them to you. Noooo! He is still in the business of providing you with even better things. You don’t have to give up on God when he is still working on your case. We are told by his Holy book that “delay is never denial,” unless you want to be like my good friend who went about smoking and drinking because he failed his BECE Examination. He knows what is good for you at a particular point in time.

All your colleagues are married. So what? All your friends are graduates and working. So what? Many of us have failed in life simply because we could not afford to wait few seconds on God. Patience is key my friend.

You don’t have to stop believing in God when he is still busily working on your case. Remember God does not run out of stock like you. Why would you want to place a FULL STOP at place where God had placed a COMMA?

I believe the piece, “In Position as a Parent” has been very inspirational to you. You may as well visit my blog:www.analimbeychris.blogspot.com and read more of my inspirational messages.

God richly bless you for making time to read this article. I shall return.

You are winning if you do not quit.
By: Analimbey Adobe-Rah Chris
Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @analimbeychris