I had such a sweet quiet time this morning. A Facebook friend posted a line from one of the Psalms that jumped out at me, and I knew I would be singing it to Jesus. "I sing in the shadow of your wings." What a beautiful line from Psalm 63! Some versions say rejoice, but since I sing when I rejoice, I just absolutely loved this! I ended up spending some time just meditating on all of Psalm 63 said.
Then, I decided to scroll through Facebook. I saw faces of people I barely know, and faces of people that I pray for everyday. I saw posts expressing fun had last night, posts expressing joy, posts expressing pain, posts expressing desperation, and posts that made me think. They made me think of my children. They made me think of choices my soon to be teenager is making. They made me think of the choices she will one day be making.
As I was thinking, I remembered one of our families favorite Disney movies; "The Incredibles". I quoted one of my favorite lines from the movie just the other day. You will probably remember it...Dad has returned home from work. The family is around the dinner table. The children begin fighting. Mom is trying to break up the fight, and is literally "stretched thin". She looks at her husband and rather forcefully says, "It's time to engage, Bob!"
While scrolling though Facebook this morning, this thought consumed my mind. If someone was attacking your child, and they could not defend themselves, what would you do? Would you watch in horror as your prayed? Would you get on your phone and call a friend for help? (Yes, I realize that a call to 911 might be in order, but stick with me here...) Yes, as a christian you would be praying, and yes, you might need help from your friends, but in the midst of an attack, I think if we were honest, we would have to say that most of us would drop whatever we were doing at the time, and do everything we possibly could to get in between that attacker and our child. We would fight with everything we had to keep them safe. Of course we would!
So, then, why is it any different with a spiritual attack?
Why when we see our kids allowing themselves to see and hear things that could open themselves up for an attack, do we not step in? Why is it that when we see our kids getting beaten down that we do not fight for them? Why are we not teaching them about spiritual warfare? Why are we not pointing out things in their everyday life that they may not see clearly? Why are we not helping them think of what their choices could mean for the future? This is a skill that our children do not have. It has been said that their brains are not even completely developed until they are about 25 years old. We place unreal expectations on them. We assume they can handle a decision because they want to make it. We assume that it is time for them to make their own decisions because that is what their friends are doing. We blindly assume that they will eventually learn, and they might. But, at what cost?
It is time to engage! More importantly, it's time to engage their heart. We can so easily as parents and caregivers become consumed with addressing outward behaviors without taking time to speak to their hearts. The problem is that the heart is where it all begins. God's Word tells us in Luke 6:45, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."Let's engage their hearts! Let's teach them at home, and not assume that they could possibly get all they need from God's Word in the short amount of time that they are in church each week. Let's take moments to sit down and help them think through choices they are making. Let's be honest with them when we see something as a threat to them that they have not recognized. Let's walk with them instead of watching them. Let's coach them through making the Armor of God real in their life. Let's not stand by while the enemy is roaming the earth seeking who can devour. He wants it to be your child. He wants it to be my child. He wants it to be my family. Yes, it's time to engage.
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