BONUS: Praying Service Over Our Kids

“You don’t have to worry about whether your world is under control. God rules. You just have to learn to trust him when his rule isn’t evident.” —Paul David Tripp

This week, as we’re praying our kids through the school year, we’re focused on praying about service for our families (especially in days like we’re facing now).

Paul Tripp’s devotional, New Morning Mercies, is relevant to what we’re facing today as it speaks to living in a world that seems out of control:

Honestly facing your lack of sovereignty over your own life produces either anxiety or relief. Anxiety is God-forgetting. It is the result of thinking that life is on your shoulders, that it is your job to figure it all out and keep things in order.

But there is a much better way. It is God-remembering. It rests in the relief that although it may not look like it, your life is under the careful control of the One who defines wisdom, power, and love. In all of the moments when life is out of your control, it is not out of his control.

As we walk through days of uncertainty with the coronavirus and the fear surrounding it, let’s focus on serving others by sharing the message of Jesus’ sovereignty. Let’s teach our children that, even in the hardest of days, we are called to love our neighbor and serve them in our words, actions, and finances, and by praying for them.

Serving others is an opportunity that is most present when people are suffering. We are here for a time such as this, and the Lord can use us mightily when we are willing to trust his heart and follow his plans.

On today’s podcast, we talk about serving in the midst of a pandemic and how to best speak truth into our kids in a way that marks them for years to come. This is the closest thing to 9/11 that our kids have faced, so the opportunity is great.

If you haven’t had a chance to read my blog on “Parenting During a Pandemic,” check it out here.

These are times of uncertainty for all of us—but not for our Father. I’m grateful to be on this journey with you as we trust God in our lack of control, knowing “it is not out of his control.”