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Centering children
pastor corner

Dr. Lawrence Butler, The Bridge Church, Pembroke

There are many sad verses in the Bible and one is found in Matthew 2. “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children…” (Matt. 2:18).

Rachel was the wife of the Patriarch Jacob and is spoken of as the symbolic figure of the mother of Israel. King Herod just ordered the murder of babies in the entire region in order to kill the perceived threat of a king being born (Jesus). The mothers of Israel wept sorely for the loss of their children. In another instance King David wept bitterly for his son Absalom who was slain in a war while trying to kill his own father and replacing him on the throne.

These parents knew the grief of a broken heart, as do some of you.

Your children have forsaken their role as parents and are spending their lives chasing the next high from drugs, or the next drunken party, leaving their kids to the grandparents to worry about. Take heart, my friend! Jesus loves and cares for those who love what He loves, and He loves children.

One of the greatest enemies of loving families certainly must be divorce. The pain that enters the hearts of adults and children alike often leaves scars that never heal.

The issue of child custody ranks at the top of the arguments during the separation, along with money.

When things don’t go well it can lead to drugs and alcohol abuse as well as another broken marriage. Some years ago I dealt with a situation where 3 children were living at home without a parent for a short period of time. Mother had 3 children by 3 different men, was expecting yet another by a fourth man, and had gone out of state seeking for family help. Her current boyfriend was in a different state also because of his job. No wonder our children have broken our hearts when we consider what has been done to them.

Isn’t it time for parents to stop leaning so heavily on grandparents and form the type of home God desires for the young? His plan is to transmit the gospel message from one generation to the next.

Read Deuteronomy 6:1-11 and see God’s plan for the home. It works, and the family will be better for it.