Living with the mystery
Eccl. 3:10-11: I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end (NIV).
One of the hardest things in parenting is accepting the limits of our control. We long to prevent hardships for our kids and to save them from destructive choices. But even though we do our best to honor God in our parenting, we will almost certainly face painful displays of rebellion or entitlement from our kids.
The truth is that we have two options with every challenge—to follow God's plan or our own. Most times our plan fails because we try to control our circumstances—and God, when we should be trusting God's eternal plan and purpose. Even though He has set eternity in our hearts, our thinking is still finite.
One of our biggest parenting challenges is to trust in God's goodness and live with the mystery.
