We are always moving forward, whether we think of it that way or not. Such is the nature of time. Looking back over my own life, there were countless twists and turns, mountains and valleys, forks in the road and moments where I zigged when I should have zagged, but God was always moving me in the same general direction. Towards adolescence, towards graduation, towards a career, towards a wife, towards children and, ultimately, towards salvation. The tracks we follow are never straight, but we are all headed to an intersection where we either decide to follow Jesus or not.
We are confronted daily by a chaotic society, where we are told right is wrong, up is down, hot is cold and evil is good. Those of us raising kids realize that parenting only increases the degree of difficulty. Not only are you trying to navigate your own path as a believer, but you are doing everything you can to help keep them on the straight and narrow. Whenever the struggle becomes too much for me, I fall back on the sovereignty of an all-knowing, all-seeing God. John MacArthur once said, “No one acts apart from the sovereign plan of God. Every choice, every act, every decision made by every human in the world, including the most evil, heinous behavior against the truth and against the Lord, God overrules and fits into His plan for His own ends and His own glory. There’s not one rebellious molecule in the universe that operates independently of His purpose.”
As a believer, I find comfort in knowing that Almighty God laid down my tracks before He formed me in the womb, having already accounted for all my imperfections and the complications associated with existing in a sinful, fallen world. I follow them to the best of my limited ability (some days are better than others) with a trust that no matter what happens—good, bad or indifferent—a perfect God knew what He was doing when He put them there.
Click here to read more stories by Brian Knapp.