What’s the Future of this Child?

Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking,
“What then is this child going to be?”
For the Lord’s hand was with him. Luke 1:66

This is a briefly sketched out events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist. It displayed Luke’s style of writing in the Acts as well. The verse is about John the Baptist and the surrounding hullabaloo of his birth and naming him. Luke 1:57-66

Here, the Lord’s hand signifies the abiding guidance, providence,  and divine operations in the event surrounding the birth of a child who’ll prepare the way for the first coming of the Son of God to save the world from their sin – the greatest of all missions.

While this is a significant historical event, which involved divine intervention in the form of miracles in the realm of spiritual and physical presence. It is where the interest of God is hugely displayed for everyone to see.

There is no match for the newborns mentioned in Luke Chapter 1. However, I would like to discuss a few important aspects and implications based on these events.

Every parent, responsible or not, would ask themselves this question at least once in their lifetime especially while children were young. We want the best for our children.

Once when they did good, in the eyes of us – their parents and other fellow parents, we are left in awe as to whether they will continue to do so. Is it a thing for a spec of time or is it the beginning of a big thing to come? We asked ourselves.

The other day we’re back to square one again. Anyway, that is the pleasure of being a parent. The ride with our kids is happening and epic. Although all parents did not express or stack it up for future reference.

All in all, it is a great way to evaluate ourselves in our quest for raising a good human.

Our Children:

Others are wondering about promising and unpromising child, that’s how we did it.

All promising children didn’t turn out well, not very successful in other words, depending on how we define success. Yet all kinds of children with different backgrounds can be successful in the ways of how we defined it. The sky is the limit, as the saying goes…..

Sucess in different fields like sports, education, and the subsequent employment or earning are what we probably want our children would turn out great to be.

Challenges and Purpose of Raising Children:

When we become parents for the first time, the experience and the task are more taxing than expected. Our dream of cuddling them softly and them being simply accepting or enjoying the way we hold them or treat them is far from reality.

Since the obligation is of caring for the God-gifted little person, it has an immense purpose to it. There is also an underlying purpose we might miss. Even more so, we might miss the whole time. Our everyday experience is a lesson for us – the parents as well as for our young children. The Purposeof John the Baptist is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17

If you could recall, our children can remember every bit of how we looked after them, even the ones we did not expect them to be. So, we are shaping our future and their future. The bond we share is special.

As a stay home dad, I want them to turn out good, strong, reliable, and faithful to God.

Guiding Hands:

In the meantime, investments are made for them to use as they grow up so they would not miss out on the opportunity for a better learning environment which would help them in shaping their future.

Again, the future is not in our hands. We can work hard for a better future yet we can’t determine its outcome. Yet without the guiding hands…..what will they turn out to be?

As of now, my children dream of growing up the way I want them to be although I would not disclose not here yet. But you can pray for them. You know that a father always wanted what is best in life after they face the world for some decades when they were blessed to be a Dad. It is worth trying as we keep on asking for the Lord’s hand in our endeavor.

In the Wilderness:

Coming back to the Scripture, it is mentioned here of how John the Baptist grew up. It is written –

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. Luke 1:80

Here, I want you to look around you and your children, or some other children in your imaginative mind. Hold it a thought whether you see them as to whether they turned out how you expected. You’d see some growing up in the wild before making their entrance back into a blessed life while some who are still in the wilderness. Pray for them, they’ll be back in the timing of the Lord!

Personally, times are there when looking back at the past struggle I could have skipped some of the steps of hard work would I knew I would end up this way. Our little enjoyment becomes our great deviation from our dream life yet our Deroute can be a blessing in different ways.

Please note here that I am not referring to John the Baptist growing up in the Wilderness as a deviation. It is God’s plan as it can be seen in some of our lives. He is waiting and getting prepared for his timing!

The Hand of the Lord:

The guidance, providence, divine operations of the Lord are those that we long for even in our personal life. They are the provisions of God we missed each day, we want to experience it for a day, in our troubled times.

The hand of the Lord which was with him is also the hand which is mentioned here: The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Acts 11:21

Growing up in the Lord:

As a Christian – immature or newborn, there are many Christians who hardly bother growing in the Lord. A saved soul should grow in the Lord, it simply doesn’t become stagnant or stay corrupted by what is happening around. Yet it grows more on the perseverance and struggles of life.

In the end, let me quickly list out herewith two important verses for Christians on growing up in the Lord:

(Growing up with) the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, about which you have already heard in the word of truth, (which is) the gospel. Colossians 1:3-6  with my emphasis added.

Like newborn babies,(for immature Christians) crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,…1 Peter 2:2 with my emphasis added.

Keeping the future of our children in the hand of the lord is by far the safest. Should they have Christ as the anchor of their life, they will be safe in any season of life – they’ll find their ground in him and not perish.