Does God Send Disaster

According to Wikipedia ‘Act of God’ is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible. In other words, if we don’t understand it and/or we can’t find any humans to blame for it, then God must have done it.

Although the logic is highly flawed, the truth is when we hear that yet another disaster has happened, most of us wonder what part, if any, God had in it. Did he do it? Did he allow it? Why didn’t he prevent it? People in the media know that we wonder. Ever notice that when disaster strikes and some preacher somewhere seems to say, “God did it” it becomes front page news.

If we wonder, then what do we say to our children when they sit with us and see the TV images of rescue workers pulling damaged or dead humans from the aftermath? What do we say when they hear the report that Reverend so-and-so said God sent the killing blow? Read more

God is Love

If our experience is not what God wants it to be, it is because of our unbelief in the love of God, in the power of God and in the reality of God’s promises. (Andrew Murray)

Here are two renditions of a portion of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-12) with very different perspectives on who God is. They are not meant to be a theological exploration of the meaning of the words in their original Greek. Rather, they illustrate that how we pray and what we expect from our relationship with God will reflect who we – and our children – believe God is, and what we believe him to be like. Read more

Answers To Your Kid’s Prayers

(photo by vaniadasilva)

The best way to explain to our children how God answers or doesn’t answer their prayers is to draw a simple parallel between their asking us for things and their asking God for things.

There are basically three answers children can anticipate when asking parents for something: yes, which may come with some stipulation or adjustment to the original request; no, which is usually accompanied by one or more good reason; and maybe, the category that most parental responses fall into.

• Our children make certain requests of us with the expectation of getting a yes answer – requests for things that they basically already know our will on. For instance, if we always let them have friends over on the weekend, let them watch a certain television show, allow them to have a snack at a certain time, or take them out for lunch after church, they’d anticipate a yes. Read more

God is trustworthy and faithful

When our children turn to God as their Father and begin to rely on his working in and with them, and in their lives, they need to know that he’s trustworthy and faithful.

It’s impossible to trust someone when you know nothing of his or her character, concern for you, or ability to deliver. To trust someone means that you know, without even having to think about it, that because of his or her character and love for you, that person will always act with your best interests in mind. You know that the person in question is trustworthy. It also means having the confidence that the person you trust is not only able to do what you’re trusting him or her to do but will do it – because that person is faithful. Read more

God Understands

God understands. He will always listen, understand, and respond to our children, no matter what happens in their lives. God is always right there for them. He understands everything they feel and go through, and he’s always ready to encourage them to go forward, to give them wisdom, and to help them out. God is on their side.

The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is fully sympathetic, understanding even the toughest things we go through because he also went through them. Sometimes we forget that Jesus was once a child and then a teenager. (The Bible even records a time when his parents didn’t understand him!) Jesus had to be obedient to his parents, go to school, do chores, and grow up in a community of friends, neighbors, and family. The single incident from Jesus’ childhood included in the Bible – something that happened when he was twelve years old – seems to have been recorded to show us that Jesus had to grow up just like everyone else. Read more

God is good

God is good, and therefore what he does is good. Our children should understand that God created them for good things. His desire is to be good to our children, to give them good things, and to teach them and help them so that they can have a good life. God isn’t a mean and angry God: he’s good, kind, and loving, and he acts accordingly.

The Lord God is like the sun that gives us light. He is like a shield that keeps us safe. The Lord blesses us with favor and honor. He doesn’t hold back anything good from those whose lives are without blame. (Psalm 84:11)

Lord, you are good. You are forgiving. You are full of love for all who call out to you. (Psalm 86:5)

You are good, and what you do is good. (Psalm 119:68) Read more

God is the Inventor and Creator of Life

I’ve already talked a lot about learning, growing, responsibility, and other serious things. Although our kids’ spiritual life isn’t something we should take lightly, we can get so wrapped up in the seriousness of it all that we end up painting God as a sour-faced old schoolmarm who demands that we get serious, sit quietly, and do only what we’re told to do. That’s why this first aspect of God’s character is so critically important and why I put if first.

God invented:

• beauty
• joy
• happiness
• humor
• laughter Read more

How can I explain to my children what God’s character is like?

In some ways, God is very different from us. He’s God, and he’s awesome. He’s the creator, and we’re creatures. But that doesn’t mean that we should talk about God in terms of his being so big and mysterious that we can’t possibly understand who he is and what he’s like. Even the unique and awesome things about God can be put in simple terms for children to understand.

Yet in many ways God is similar to us, and that’s what we should focus on first when we talk to our kids about God. He made us “in his image.” People have debated a lot about exactly what that phrase means, but one thing is for sure: everything good that God created as part of who we are is part of who God is, even though he’s not limited to or by any of these things. Read more