How We Can Impact Generations to Come
Judges (2:10) both amazes and terrifies me every time I read it. Not too long after Joshua (Moses’ successor) had successfully led those somewhat difficult Children of Israel into the Promised Land, he passed away. The Word then goes on to describe the state of God’s Children as follows: “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.” What happened?!?! These people had seen God do incredible miracles – water from a rock to provide for their thirst; individuals being swallowed up in the earth; healing of diseases and daily provision of food in the desert. For goodness sake, these people walked through the middle of the Red Sea!
What caused them to quit teaching, acknowledging, discussing, passing down, and encouraging the next generation about Who God was and the mighty things He had done? Why did they stop telling the exciting and dramatic stories of how He carried them through the desert, revealing Himself over and over? Did they forget? Or did they just start taking it for granted? It not only makes me scratch my bleached blond locks in wonder, but it puts a bit of a holy terror in me, making me ask…am I doing enough to pass down truth to the next generations?
In August of 2015, we experienced an event that would literally rock our world – the birth of our first g-baby, Adam “Reid” Wilson, Jr. (affectionately referred to as “Poochie,” when we are Facetiming at night). For years I had been told about the love I would one day feel for a grandchild. Being a grandparent (or in my case a “Lola”), was described by a friend as, “You love your children, but you FALL IN LOVE with your grandchildren.” She was exactly right. It’s been amazing, incredible, and eye-opening. My heart has expanded in a way that I didn’t realize was possible. The obstacle of being separated by 600 miles has challenged us to find new and creative ways to stay connected and engaged (future blog page for long-distance grandparents to come soon, I hope). But we’re making it work and loving every precious minute. In fact, I’m headed up that way for some one-on-one time with my baby in a matter of hours. My heart has been fluttering for days!
Soon after little Reid made his entrance into our lives, my son and I were having a VERY adult conversation about parenting. He and his wife, Rachael, were not only amazing me with their parenting skills, but their heart-felt desire to love, nurture and instill into Reid a love for Jesus. Once again, it was one of those parenting moments when I had to ask “When did this boy of mine become a man?!”
As we discussed both the joys and challenges of raising a child in this day and age, I recognized and attempted to articulate a greater obstacle that Adam and Rachael would experience in raising Reid, which Stan and I did not – that of teaching him that the values, truths, and beliefs that we hold dear would often be in direct contrast to that which the world, our government, and possibly our laws, say is good and acceptable. In fact, there will be times when standing up for what is “right, Godly and loving,” will be viewed by others as hateful, intolerant and unacceptable. Yes, they’ve been handed quite a challenge.
Okay…I didn’t mean to be an “Eeyore” or rain on your parade, so please, hang in there with me a moment, because this is actually a GRAND OPPORTUNITY which has been handed to us as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, mentors and friends. During this time in our history, where everything seems literally upside down, we can partner with God in making it right-side up, by directly impacting this younger generation with the truth of Who God is. We can pray. We can love. We can model. We can mentor. We can bring along-side, and we can empower these precious children to KNOW the Lord and all that He has done and will do, enabling them to eventually impact future generations. How exciting is that?!
We can literally make a world-shattering difference as we share stories of how He’s impacted our lives. We can invite them to pray with us; then demonstrating what it means to believe, as we hold to the truths of His Word. We can pass down who HE SAYS we are, rejecting who the world says we should be. We can show them what it means to love others and Jesus by serving. We can illustrate how to lovingly and honorably stand for truth when others misconceive it as intolerance. Challenge, encourage and inspire! And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, we can PRAY for them. All. The. Time. One of my mentors once told me, “If you’re talking to your kids about God more than you’re talking to God about your kids, you’ve got it all wrong. Switch it around. God should be your first go-to.” This is where we can be the most effective. God’s the one with the power to change. We’re not.
God’s given us the incredible privilege and responsibility to impact the next generation so that they authentically know Him. It’s up to us. And I believe we can make a difference. A huge one. I will go as far as to say…God has given all of us this responsibility. We need to take it. We MUST take it. We can be the key ingredient, so to speak, of multiple generations knowing Who He is, what He’s done, what He’s doing, and the plans and purposes He has for each and every one of them.
As King David, may our heartfelt cry be “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.” Psalm 71:18.
It’s a grand opportunity. Let’s take it!
Thank you for reading!
