The Potter's Hand

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother - which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4

How do we honor our fathers when they have exasperated us? How do we grasp the promise - that it may go well with us and that we may enjoy long life on the earth - when all we know is distance and pain?

Too many fathers have checked out on their families! More children today are being raised without a father than ever before. Even fathers who live in the same house are often emotionally miles away. Kids are lonely. Wives are frustrated. How can we turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers?

The first step is understanding.

No father, except our Heavenly Father, is perfect. And every father is scared. Oh, it may not be socially acceptable to admit it, but ask any man. One of his greatest struggles is probably fear. He may be thinking, "How can I provide for my family? How can I be a father when no one ever taught me?" Perfect love drives out fear. Every father longs to be loved in ways that overcome his fear. Understand him and choose to love him.

The second step is respect.

Men have a deep, heartfelt need for respect; it is the way they are wired. A father needs to know he is loved, but greater still is his desire for respect. Even fathers who do little to earn respect - especially fathers who do little to earn respect - can benefit from knowing their children and wives respect them.

The third step is to break the chain.

Children are punished for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. Every father is a son. Unfortunately, too many sons are living with the sins of their grandfathers. But this generational curse doesn't need to continue. "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Choosing Christ is our only hope. Choosing the One who has forgiven us gives us the power to forgive. Choosing the One who died for us brings life in ways we cannot comprehend.

Understand him.

Respect him.

Break the chain.

Father, help me to honor my father for the things he has given me. Help me to forgive him for the things he hasn't. Help me to become the type of father who brings blessing to a thousand generations.

But the Lord replied, "Have you any right to be angry?" Jonah 4:4

Righteous indignation...

Why does the church seem to think God picks and chooses who He will love? Many of His children have been fooled by the enemy; they have believed lies about what God thinks of them. Do our actions cause Him to hate us? He is perfect love. How could He be anything contrary to Himself?

The Lord is calling us to reach out with the hands of Christ to a dying world. Will we listen? Will we respond? Or will we be like Jonah - running from God's plan, only to find we can never escape it.

Lord, so many times I have, like Jonah, paid my fare and boarded the ship. The waves have risen and tossed me about, yet I have survived the storms. Your calling must be obeyed, or so much can be lost. If the people do not hear the truth, they will continue to die in disobedience. Give me the words to say and the courage to say them. Give me a heart that is filled with Your compassion.

Forgive my righteous indignation.

Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. Mark 1:45

When is spreading the good news of Jesus Christ not a good idea?

When He tells you not to!

Jesus was just getting started. His ministry of truth and healing seemed to take off like a rocket, yet He still had a little privacy - until one man didn't do what Jesus had told him to do. A former leper couldn't keep his mouth shut, and Jesus suffered for it. This man had been healed from the greatest curse of his day. Leprosy made him an outcast, but Jesus changed all that. Now, he could reenter the world as clean and whole. But how is he remembered?

As one who caused Jesus to suffer.

As a result of this man's disobedience, Jesus could no longer enter a town but stayed outside in lonely places.

What was so wrong? Is it a bad thing to share how Jesus has healed you?

It is a bad thing when Jesus has told you otherwise. This former leper was told not to tell anyone but to go to the priest, so he could be declared clean. Yet in his excitement, he went about proclaiming himself as clean - and Jesus suffered.

Lord, give me ears to hear Your commands and a heart of obedience. You have healed me from some big curses, and I believe the day will come to proclaim it. Help me to do it on Your time table. I don't see the plan. I don't know the suffering it could cause by acting too soon. But You do. Keep whispering to me, and I will try to obey.