The PAIN of PARENTHOOD!

 

Did you as a parent ever say, "This is going to hurt me worst than it is going to hurt you?" I don't remember saying it, but I sure have felt it. Punishing your child is not easy. Really, parenting as a whole is not easy because when your kids grow up you feel pain when you watch them make decisions that are not good choices. Yesterday, I was sharing this with someone and realizing this same thing goes for your flock. As Pastors we often feel like "parents" of the flock, just as much as a shepherd of the flock. As a parent we feel the aches, pains, the trials, and the tribulations of our kids. 

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." (Psalm 34:18, NLT)

"In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years. But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he became their enemy and fought against them." (Isaiah 63:9-10, NLT)

As a pastor, I get a little bit of the taste of leading a rebellious people. When I see people stubbornly refuse to make prayer the center of their life, when I see people neglect meeting together, when I see people refusing to read God's word, and ignoring God's guidance and direction, that is pure rebellion against God. When they rebel against God, I am grieved. I feel their pain!

I was reading in Isaiah 13 today how the Lord's anger was on display first against Israel and then against the pagan nations. Knowing God is a God of Love and knowing how our pain, pains him, I can't even imagine how it hurt him deeply to punish his people. There is no joy inflicting pain as punishment. But, the good news comes:

"But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel." (Isaiah 14:1, NLT)

We cannot dwell on our sins. We cannot dwell on the punishment or the consequences of that sin. We accept the punishment and the consequences and then we move on to accept GOD"S UNFAILING LOVE. If you focus only on the pain of punishment, the consequences of your confessed sin, you are missing much of life. God is LOVE and yes, he is just, he is righteous, and he abhors sin, but HE LOVES YOU. When you suffer, even due to your own sinfulness, God LOVES YOU. He longs for the times when you turn to him to return his love.  Don't dwell on the past. Don't dwell on the self-inflicted pain. REPENT of your SINS AND TURN TO JESUS. He will forgive and forget! You Father in Heaven longs to be with you. 

"This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and will write them on their minds. The he says, 'I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.' And when their sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices." (Hebrews 10:16-18, NLT)

Repent and forget, GO and SIN NO MORE!

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If you haven't repented of your sin, accepted what Jesus did for you on the cross, dying for your sins, or if you have not committed your life to Jesus, TODAY could be that day. give your life to the Lord. 

"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:9-10, ESV)

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