Promises, Promises
How do Christian parents with broken hearts cope with their frustration towards God when seemingly promised outcomes from Scripture fail to materialize for their families? I’ve published part of this post before, but I decided to add a crucial section I’d like your feedback on. I’ve found many parents with prodigal children who want to understand the meaning behind Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go and in the end he will not depart from it.” Some parents feel they did that, but their children went down a different path. We’ll dive deep into what this verse does and doesn’t promise. As always, all feedback is welcome.
God promised David, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever’” (2 Samuel 7:16).[i] That’s a huge promise. But did all of David’s children follow God faithfully?
Did this promise keep David’s oldest son Amnon from raping David’s daughter Tamar? Did the promise keep Absalom from murdering Amnon?
Did the promise—including David’s tears, prayers, fasting and vigil—save the life of David’s first child with Bathsheba?
Did it prevent Absalom from temporarily stealing his father’s throne?
Did the promise prevent David’s son Solomon from executing David’s other son Adonijah? Did it ensure that Solomon lived his entire life faithfully following Yahweh and ridding Israel of all idol worship?
Will all of David’s children be in heaven? Has there been an earthly descendant of David on the throne of Israel in an unbroken manner for the last three thousand years?
No, no, no, no, and no. The promise in 2 Samuel points to the fulfillment of Christ’s ultimate reign, and it will be true, in that sense, through all of eternity. But God didn’t give David the satisfaction of knowing every child and every grandchild would be part of that eternal kingdom. In the same way, we mustn’t take general scriptural promises and make them apply to our individual desires for each one of our children.
Continue reading this post on Substack HERE.
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