Parenting comes with many blessings and challenges. When a baby is first born, you are overwhelmed with love yet also concerned about how to take care of him or her properly. Then they get older, and you contemplate their education and friends. Eventually, they gain more independence, start driving, get jobs, go to college or trade school, and eventually move out of the house.
Along the way, we are faced with many challenges, seasons, and stages. Each developmental stage brings about change and new risk. There are many things you can worry about along the journey; however, it’s also an opportunity to match those anxious thoughts with the promises of the Bible.
Let’s discuss some promises that will help you lean into your faith instead of your fears while raising children.
1. Peace in Parenting
Understanding God’s purpose for parenting can free us to glorify Him. At times, parenting can be stressful and filled with worry—it’s all too common in our world today. The great thing is Christians don’t need to worry like their unbelieving neighbors. When we exhibit the fruits of the spirit and model peace over anxiety, we exhibit how Christ has made our lives different.
If you want to disciple your neighbors, friends, and family, what better way than to show them how Christ has changed you. The Holy Spirit is an unbelievable gift we were given. God did not leave us alone in this broken world; He equipped us with His spirit and Word.
We will not live a worry-free life. But knowing a God is reigning in heaven and our job here is to glorify Him gives us perspective others don’t have. Our job is to teach our children that their purpose in life is to praise and worship their Heavenly Father.
God has already orchestrated all their days and yours. Worrying does not add years to your life. In fact, the Bible teaches us otherwise.
“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:33
As you turn those worries over to your Heavenly Father, He replaces them with His peace.
2. Faith and Obedience
2. Faith and Obedience
God makes vast promises to Abraham—especially for a man with no children. God vows to him that he will have as many offspring as stars in the sky along with land in which to reside.
“He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 5:5)
Abraham, at seventy-five years of age could not see the children he was promised, nor could he gaze over the land he would be given. Abraham didn’t know the Lord would spare his son Isaac when he was prepared to sacrifice him.
Abraham forged ahead anyway, in each one of these endeavors. He left his homeland heading to an unknown location. He trusted God would fulfill His promise to have children, even though he was older. He put his son on the alter ready to be sacrificed because God asked him to.
Abraham exhibited two significant traits that we all need today: faith and obedience. Praying and striving for great faith allowed Abraham to journey to an unknown destination. He trusted God would fulfill His promises, so he obeyed. His faith was so great that he didn’t ask for the plan in writing to approve before he said yes. He just went when God asked.
We are called to instruct our children in the ways of the Lord, love our children, and trust God’s providence. We will not be given the plan ahead of time, that’s where our faith and obedience come into play. We are called to have faith great enough to obey our Lord and trust in His plans for our lives and our children. This is not an easy task; this is where faith takes over, and leaves worry in the dust.
3. God Will Be with You
3. God Will Be with You
“The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, I will never break my covenant with you.” (Judges 2:1)
We may make promises to each other, and sometimes they get broken. We are unable to fulfill everything we promise. However, you have the promise that God will never break his covenants with us. God fulfills all His promises.
Hebrews 13:5 says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
In the parenting journey, you are never alone. Never! God will never abandon you. Sometimes, you feel like God has gone dormant, but He is always there. Keep seeking Him through Scripture and prayer. He has given you direction in the Bible. Do not give up on Him; He never gives up on you.
Use prayer just like David did. Pour out your worries to your Father in Heaven. He is the only one who can truly handle your burdens and do something about them. The expectation shouldn’t be that God will patch every difficulty you have; He uses them as part of our sanctification.
The promise we can rely on is He will be with us through the good and bad. We are never alone!
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/AleksandarNakic
4. The Lord Gives Us Strength and Peace
4. The Lord Gives Us Strength and Peace
“The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. (Psalm 29:11)
Who doesn’t want more peace in their life? In fact, if you are struggling with anxiety, I believe that is exactly what you are looking for. Peace is a quietness—a settled state in your soul where everything feels calm and safe.
Most people have felt this peace at times or seasons in their life and then it disappears to be replaced with worried thoughts.
The Lord does not leave us to wallow in our anxious thoughts. He gives us a prescription to combat these thoughts.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
Who doesn’t want the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, to guard our minds? That sounds pretty incredible, does it not? How do we get this peace? In every situation, we pray, give gratitude, and present our requests to God.
It’s pretty amazing that the way to peace is by communion with God. The Scripture says, God’s peace is transcending. We can’t exactly explain it, we can’t touch it, but He promises to share it with us.
5. The Promise of Hope
5. The Promise of Hope
The greatest antidote for an anxious parent is our faith in Jesus Christ and hope of eternity with Him. John 16:33 tells us, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus doesn’t promise us a perfect life; in fact, quite the opposite. He tells us we will have trouble, which means our kids will, too. We can’t wish away all their worries, but we can point them to Jesus.
Jesus gives us hope. We have hope in eternity and knowing He has already conquered this world. We may struggle in this world, but the more we remember He is on the throne orchestrating all that comes our way, the more it reassures us.
Putting hope in the things of this world will only disappoint. The things in this life are fleeting. Keeping an eternal perspective puts your anxiety in its proper place. A lot of times we worry about things that are out of our control. When we humble ourselves, and remember who is really in control, then we are free to let go of the things we don’t have control over. It teaches us dependence on God.
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5
When we remember the promises God made to our ancestors and passed down to us, we can parent our children with confidence that God is with us. When we remember God’s promises, we can turn our worries over to Him and have our anxiety replaced with His peace.
Originally published February 05, 2025.
