My daughter asked me the other night when I was tucking her in, “Is it okay that sometimes I don’t want to go to church?” It would be easy to sigh and be frustrated and convince her to say “the right thing”.
But, the truth is, we all have questions sometimes and we are all unsure about things sometimes.
Even Thomas questioned things. And, even though he did, in John 20, Jesus came right to Thomas. That didn’t stop him.
God is far bigger than our questions and thoughts.
So, when my daughter said that, I said, “Of course that’s okay to feel that way. I feel like that sometimes. But church is a great thing because we can grow in our faith and also be around community. That’s why it’s a choice, because we don’t always feel like it. That’s why faith is a choice, because we don’t always feel it either.”
My daughter loves to ask deep questions about faith and she is so raw and honest. It’s good for our kids to be raw and honest. It’s good for them to know it’s okay and normal to have questions and wonder about things.
I like to remind my kids that I don’t always FEEL like loving the people around me, but I try my best to choose to because I care about them and because that’s what God calls us to do.
It’s the same with faith. We might not always feel it, but it’s a choice to believe.
Just like when Martha was in pain after losing her brother Lazarus, she still chose to believe in Jesus. She was sad, frustrated, and asked questions, yet she chose to believe. Isn’t that beautiful?
If we want our kids to keep coming to us with their honest thoughts and questions, we need to welcome them.
The next day, my daughter said she was going to make her journal a prayer journal where she could pray to God in it.
Isn’t that awesome? Asking questions in one moment, choosing to pray in the next?
God sure is honored when we seek Him. And He will show Himself.
So, let’s make space for our kids to seek the Lord, to come to us with questions, to be raw and open with us. And let’s keep reminding them how much we love them and how much the Lord loves them.
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.” Jeremish 29
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Jesus
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Linsey Driskill 