Having the Right Attitude

While preparing for a Sprouts lesson, I was deeply moved and convicted by a story that I have heard a million times. It's funny how often the adult is the one learning the lesson in the hopes of successfully teaching the child. The story comes from 1 Samuel and is about a boy named David. We all know about how David killed Goliath, but what we often forget is that Goliath isn't the first giant David faced. God first put him in smaller situations that David could handle, in order to prepare him for what he would later face.

So often, we look at trials as difficult and a huge inconvenience. Although many times the trails ARE difficult and a huge inconvenience, what if...just maybe, we switched our focus a tad bit? What if we were firm believers in whatever we are facing, that God is there to make sure we succeed? What if, even though we are in the midst of trials, we knew that we were going to come out with a stronger relationship with our Lord? Would it be worth it?

To this day, we look at David as being an example of strength. From an early age he learned how to rely on the wisdom of God and how to make decisions based on God's Word. We often fail to realize that like David, we are examples too. Whether we are parents or Children's Directors at churches or both- kids watch, take note and form habits based on what they see. Jim Wideman in his book Connect With Your Kids says this about adversity, "Training your child to be problem solvers is not difficult. It will take time and consistency. Life will present the challenges. As a parent, your first duty is to show by example how to pray and stand on the Word to overcome the situation. Then, when adversity rears its ugly head in the lives of your children, they can follow your lead. As you give them necessary support and encouragement, they will learn to never shy away from difficulties but rather go to the head of the line and be great problem solvers." Our kids are watching, what are they seeing?

This week, try extra hard to show your kids where you find your strength. From stubbing your toe to a death in the family, it's all difficult, but God wants us to succeed just like David.