Your Child - Your God

 You shall have no other gods before me. - Exodus 20:3 NIV
 
This past week was a doozer. Our son started his first year of public school and we were super excited Monday morning. We got the new socks, backpack, pencils and crayons. New shoes, uniform shirts and fun lunch box items! We ventured forward and knew we would have some hiccups along the way but our son struggled a lot more than expected. 

We prayed daily for him and his teacher. And for that one "special friend" that he might meet in his class. But as always, the Lord had a bigger lesson for me in store. As our struggles in school increased, my daily conversations IN and OUT became about my son. From his teachers' emails and phone calls to drop off and pick up line, to the calls I was making to family and friends. A CONSTANT in my conversations was about the struggles my son was having, questioning what to do, and looking for wisdom in the multitude. 

But as I did that CONSTANTLY this week. My heart was consumed. Consumed with the struggle instead of my Savior. Consumed with the problem instead of on the One who is praiseworthy. A good friend of mine, gave me some simple yet profound counsel and reminded me to not allow my CHILD TO BECOME MY IDOL. WOW, I totally had done this. In such a subtle way, my flesh desired to focus on the temporal instead of the eternal.  

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. - Psalm 73:26

Do you do that too? Have you allowed your child who may be struggling to become your god? Remember to grasp hold of the hand of Christ who will give peace, comfort, and joy! Go back to your first love, the Lord, and allow His Word and Spirit to refresh. It is there we will find rest. It is there we will have the hope for the teacher who doesn't know Him yet. It is there my child will see where I must put my focus in order to stay balanced and heavenly focused. 

Is your child your god? Stop and ask the Lord for help. Allow yourself a few minutes to sit and hear from the Creator of your child. He will remind you of Truth! He did for me this week as well. It was wonderful to hear counsel from friends but it was in the Word that my heart was healed and given the strength to get up, brush off my knees, and keep going! You're not alone!

 No other gods, only me. - Exodus 20:3 MSG