Children should be seen as a Blessing, not a Hardship

Children should be seen as a Blessing, not a Hardship

First, scripture teaches that children are blessed gifts from God. God designed them as a blessing, as a source of joy. They come from God to grace our lives with fulfillment, meaning, happiness and satisfaction. Parenthood is God's gift to us.

This is true even in a fallen world, infected with the curse of sin. In the midst of evil, children are tokens of God's lovingkindness. They are living proof that God's mercy extends even to fallen sinful creatures.

Remember that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit before they had conceived any offspring. Yet God did not simply destroy them and start over a new race. Instead, he permitted Adam and Eve to fulfill the command given them before the Fall: Be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28). Through that, He set in motion a plan of redemption that would ultimately embrace untold numbers of Adam's offspring (Rev 7:9-10). The children Eve bore therefore embodied the hope that fallen sinners could be redeemed.

And when God cursed the earth because of Adam's sin, He multiplied the pain of the childbirth process, but he did not nullify the blessing inherent in bearing children.

Eve recognized this. Gen 4:1 says "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain and said, 'I have acquired a man from the Lord.'" She clearly recognized that the Lord was the source of this child. She regarded the child as a gift from the hand of the One whom she had sinned against, and she was overjoyed by it. Despite the pain of childbirth, and irrespective of the fallenness of the child himself, she knew that the child was an emblem of God's grace to her.

In verse 25 we read, "And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, 'For God has appointed another seed for me.'" Children, Eve knew, are blessed gifts from God.

What of the children of unbelievers? They represent divine blessings too. In Gen 17:20, God promised to bless Ishmael. How would He bless him? By multiplying his children and descendants. He told Abraham, "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly."

Also, in the contest between Leah and Rachel for Jacob's affection, Gen 29:31-33 says, "When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, "The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me." Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the Lord has heard that I am not loved, He has therefore given me this son also."

The Lord's compassion for Leah was manifested by His enabling her to bear children.

God blessed Rachel with children too and she praised Him for His goodness. "And she conceived and bore a son and said, 'God has taken away my reproach'". Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin and her midwife offered these words of dying comfort: "Do not fear; you will have this son also." (Gen 35:17)

Throughout this tale of the parents who gave birth to the various tribes of God's chosen people, one thing is clear. All parties understood that children signified the blessings of the Lord.

By God's gracious design, children are given to bring parents joy, happiness, contentment, satisfaction, and love. Psalm 127:3-5 says so expressly: "

 ³ Children are a heritage from the LORD,
   offspring a reward from him.
⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
   are children born in one’s youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man
   whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame 

   when they contend with their opponents in court."

Clearly, in the plan of God, children are meant to be a blessing, not a hardship. And they usually are a blessing when they arrive. But left exposed to this world and unshaded by the proper kind of protection, they will indeed break your heart. That leads to the second foundational principle... to be continued...

From: Macarthur, What the Bible Says About Parenting, p13-16

An Afternoon At Bendemeer

I brought my grandmother to the Bendemeer market a few days ago for her to visit the hairstylist and also to get some groceries from the market. I thus had the chance to eat at the market.

It brought back many memories eating at the old market as I grew up there. I ordered a plate of chicken rice and shared a table with two young boys.

The two boys reminded me of when i was just like them many years ago, eating at the hawker centre and later playing in the afternoon. They boys were quite adorable, playing their nintendo ds and at the same time eating their lunch.

At that moment, i was reminded to share about Christ with them. And the moving in my heart was especially strong as the boys just reminded me about the times when i was young and just like them. I didn't know how to initiate a conversation without scaring the boys away as they were only 12 years of age. But i prayed to God in my heart silently that i can share Christ with them.

Then i asked them something close to my heart, "You guys stayed around here?". They replied, "nope, we stay in Hougang." I replied to them back that i used to stay around there and am currently also staying in Hougang. I next asked them then why are they here then to which they replied, that one of the boy's father had a shop there. I replied that my grandfather too, used to have a textile shop here. And so, with that, barriers between us started crumbling.

Soon, as we chatted and got to know more about their background, the schools they were studying (Holy Innocents), I asked them if in Holy Innocents did they hear about Jesus Christ? They said yes but they had  believed in other religions already. I then remembering Jesus example with the Samaritan woman on how He did not change the subject with the woman, and told the boy if he knew that believing in Christ was important? That one day we will die and where will we head towards? Heaven or Hell?

I think by God's grace, their responded quite positively and started asking questions which allowed me to share more about Christ. I also got to know that they were having a little waveboarding tournament in the afternoon. We later left and i took two Ultimate Questions booklet and went to the basketball court where they were having their tournament and passed the booklet to them.

I thank God for the chance and also for the moving in my heart to share Christ with them. I hoped that on that day, the gospel seed was sowed in their hearts and it may grow fully one day.

The Arrogance and Pride of Belshazzar that caused him all

The Arrogance and Pride of Belshazzar that caused him all.

In Daniel 5, we read of King Belshazzar giving a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles. He gave orders to use the cups from the temple in Jerusalem to drink the wine from. As all of them drank from the cups, they also worshipped the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. It was utter disrespect towards the true and living God. Firstly, he did not deem the cups from the temple as sacred. Secondly, while drinking and indulging in his revelry, he worshipped idols.

Because of this, God's judgement came heavily upon him. The fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall. This caused great fear in the King, who then asked all his wise men to interpret the writing and whoever could do so would be made third highest ruler. However, none could interpret. As the days go by, the King became more and more frightened.

The Queen remembered that none could be compared to Daniel and how he interpreted the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, his father. Hence, Belshazzar called him in to interpret the writing promising honors for him if he manages to do so.

Daniel was thus called in. He obey the King's command to interpret the writings but not before first proclaiming that he had no interests at all in the riches and honor promised to him. He knew that the ability to interpret the writing came from God and not himself. He also did not want to defile himself with the money. He had overcome greed.

When Daniel saw the writing, he knew what it mean. He begins a harsh rebuke to Belshazzar. Telling him about his father's previous majesty and power, but when he became arrogant and hardened with pride, God stripped him of his glory and turned him into a mad animal like man till he acknowledged that God is the true sovereign one.

But Belshazzar though having knew all these, have not humbled himself but instead worshipped idols and disrespected God. To words to Belshazzar are thus the words of judgement, that God has number the days of his reign and will bring it to an end. He is judged to be sinful and his kingdom will be given to the Medes and Persians.

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

Learning Lessons:

- Remember the lessons of our fathers.
- Do not be arrogant and prideful but acknowledge that God is sovereign over all.