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You’re kids are going to see a lot in this life. They’ll see people, movies, accidents, arguments, homework assignments, wins and losses, and so much sin . . . but will your children see God working in and behind and through it all?
Let’s be honest, when you were young, you didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. Your kids aren’t seeing it either. And that’s one of the reasons God put you into their lives . . . so that they can and will see Him and His works. Because if they don’t, your children are in trouble. Welcome to the show. If you’re new, I’m Aaron Brewster, a biblical family counselor in Brevard, NC. Each of our episodes come with free notes, a transcript, and related resources linked in the description so that all of us can deepen our understanding of the Scriptures and how they need to impact our parenting. So, let’s get started. Topic
What we encounter in this life and how we interpret those things are what make us what we are. If you grow up genuinely believing an invisible unicorn lives in your backyard protecting your family from harm, you’re not going to ever want to move away. You’re going to want to keep the unicorn happy. You’ll spend money on rainbow sparkles to sprinkle on the carrots it loves to eat so much.
The inverse of this is that if you don’t believe God is really interested in your life, then you’re not really going to give Him the time of day. Today we’re going to look at some key biblical passages where we see the connection between seeing and believing and how they actually influence each other. But we’re also going to provide practical ways you can help your kids see God at work. But before we get too much further, let me tell you about an awesome opportunity. For the price of taking your family to a restaurant just once per month, you can become a monthly donor of Truth.Love.Family. and help us minister to families all over the world. We’re trying to become financially sustainable, and—as a non-profit—that has proven to be surprisingly challenging. But we’re praying that when we celebrate our 10th anniversary this fall, we will have $100,000 of annual support. All of your giving is tax-exempt, and as far as non-profits go, $100,000 is just a fraction of their operating expenses. But that money could be used in this ministry to make real change in this world. Please visit TruthLoveParent.com/donate to become a monthly donor. Whether it’s 5, 50, or $500, every little bit will help us reach our goals and minister to hurting families all over the world. Alright . . . 1. Why is seeing God work so necessary? We’ve all heard it said that “Seeing is believing.” In response to that, many have countered with “Believing is seeing.” Still, others—especially in the church—have rightly argued that faith requires no seeing. Hebrews 11:1 reads, “Now faith [which is the same as believing] is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” But the Scriptures also show us many of the following instances. After the miracle of the Red Sea, in Exodus 14:31 we read, “Then Israel saw the great hand which Yahweh had used against the Egyptians; and the people feared Yahweh, and they believed in Yahweh and in His servant Moses.” Following His first miracle, John 2:11 tells us, “Jesus did this in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of His signs, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” And John 11:45 tells us what happened after Lazarus was raised from the dead, “Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.” Though the first part seems to support a “seeing is believing” mentality, this last verse is a firm argument against the idea that seeing is believing. They saw, but they absolutely did not believe. And I think that the idea of “believing is seeing” is illustrated here because those who believed in Jesus saw what He did in a very different ways than those who saw but didn’t believe. So, what do we do with II Corinthians 5:7 which says “We walk by faith, not by sight,” and the reality that the Bible sometimes makes a connection between people’s belief to what they see? I want to invite all of you—if you never have—to listen to The Merest Christianity with your family. That series sets forth both the seminal nature of faith, how to believe what is right, and how to use those beliefs to change your life. And one of the final truths we learn in that series is that you cannot believe what you do not know. When I used the silly example of the invisible unicorn, it’s easy to understand that no one is ever going to believe that such a creature exists or that it likes to eat rainbow sparkle carrots unless they experienced something they couldn’t explain any other way or they had it told to them. I think a real world example is Santa Claus. No one is ever going to believe that Santa exists without any evidence, therefore, children must be told. And early on, children will believe what their parents tell them, but in order to convince the older ones, they need to see disappearing cookies and milk and tags that say “From Santa” or experience an elaborate farce with footsteps on the roof. By the way, I hope you’re seeing what a powerful part you play in your child’s belief system. We’ll discuss the dangers of that in our next point. For now, though, your children won’t believe in God unless they first come to know He exists. This is why God built His fingerprints into all creation. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Psalm 19:1). You cannot look carefully at this world and miss the presence of a Creator. Those who do are self-deluded because they do not want to be accountable to the One Who created all they see. So, I hope you’re understanding the importance of seeing in order to believe. However, mature belief doesn’t require continuation of sight or even continuity of sight. What I mean by that is a mature belief can weather pain and suffering even when God’s hand is not clearly seen. They can also trust God with their children even though they have only seen Him working in their finances. But we’ll talk more about this in a moment. For now we’re focusing on our children who have immature or nonexistent faith that requires seeing and more of it. They need to see in order to believe, and it’s incredibly helpful for them to continue seeing in order to mature in their believing. They need to see God at work in your family. They need to see Him at work in your church and community. They need to see Him working through your suffering, in your finances, and even in your confusion and questions. The more they see Him present and active, the more their faith will be strengthened—or the more their disbelief will be challenged. So, if that’s the case . . . 2. How do you help your kids see God work? A. Show them God in His world. I really hope that your children are using biblically-based Science curriculum taught by Christians. If not, they’re being lied to about something that God deliberately manufactured to point to Him. His glory is revealed in the smallest quark and the largest nebula. I hope you’re pointing out the immensity and creativity and beauty and goodness of our Creator as you encounter nature and weather and sickness and health and animals and bugs and food and plants and everything in between. I created a resources called The Year Long Celebration of God. It’s an approach to discipleship that seeks to glorify God better today than we did a year ago, and—among other things—helps us worship God better with our holiday calendars. And we actually created our own week long holiday called Creation Week. It’s so much fun to take the time to really see God in Creation and celebrate Him for it. But it’s possible to see this universe and recognize that it takes an all-powerful intelligent being to create it, but its something very different to know that being on a personal level. Therefore . . . B. Show them God in His Word. I know that when we talk about seeing God, we’re like Moses asking to see the Lord—and after seeing the backside of his glory, his face shone like a light. Almost no one is thinking about reading the Bible. But we don’t see God with our eyes in this day and age, and God Himself teaches us that His Word was given to us—in part—to truly see Him and know Him. For example, John 20:30-31 tells us, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” In the Bible we see God’s character, desires, actions, we hear His Words, we see His deeds, we know His will. The Scriptures stand as an everlasting testament to His glory. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we read, “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! 5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Later in verses 20-25, Moses explains that “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which Yahweh our God commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us from Egypt with a strong hand. 22 Moreover, Yahweh showed great and calamitous signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household; 23 But He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’ 24 So Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for our good all our days and for our survival, as it is today. 25 And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, just as He commanded us.” Ephesians 6:4 teaches that we are put into our children’s lives to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Our kids cannot believe what they do not know, therefore, we need to teach them about God from His perfect Word. They cannot believe in Christ whom they have not met. They cannot believe God created the Word without Him telling them. They cannot know and understand the importance of purity without it being explained by the Source of purity itself. Most of our kids don’t really believe in God because they’re ignorant of Him. They know more of the half-truths and lies the society says about Him than the eternal truth He communicates about Himself. They’re like people dying of starvation because they refuse to eat the copious buffet around them. We have the Scriptures, but we ignore it. Before I move on, though, please stop for a moment and consider the things you have taken hours and hours to explain to your kids. Maybe it’s the lore surrounding a movie franchise or book series. Perhaps it’s annual stories and charades about Santa Claus. Maybe we’re guilty of teaching our children the lies of evolution or psychiatry. Our kids will generally believe what they’ve been told and shown—especially when those things aren’t true. Our sinful hearts don’t want to believe the things of God. It takes a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit to draw us to Him. But we love to latch onto lies. Therefore, it’s so easy to get our kids to invest in and believe in that which is empty and false. Please be careful what you tell your kids. Please be careful putting greater importance on the fantasies in our culture than you do the Scripture. Show your kids God in His world and show them God in His Word. But also . . . C. Show them God in His work. Though we cannot see Him with our eyes, we can see His promises fulfilled. Show them God in His past work. Joshua 4:6-7, “So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross again before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you carry a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, 6 in order that this would be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”” Whether it’s the biblical accounts of His working in this world of the more recent historical accounts of His working, we need to familiarize our kids with the acts of God. God has preserved His Word and His people. He has worked miracles. He is orchestrating the very vibrations of the cosmos for His greatest glory and our greatest good as we submit to Him. Help your kids see it. But we also need to . . . Show them God in His present work. Now, it’s once thing to read from the Bible or a missionary biography. Those authors easily show what happened in the past and connect the dots so we can see what God was doing. But that’s not the case for your current success and trials. One of the biggest reasons your kids don’t see God working in your family right now is the fact that you’re not showing it to them . . . because . . . well . . . you, yourself, can’t see it. My friends, for the sake of our own maturity and relationship with God, we need to do a better job seeing God at work in our daily lives. This starts with knowing what the Scriptures say about His work in our lives. For example, Romans 8:28 says “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” And verse 29 goes into even more detail about the end goal, “Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.” Knowing this, you can see the current stress, joy, heartache, comfort, or discomfort as part of the maturing process. You need to be able to look at your bank account and not fear—but instead see God at work in your life to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ. Only then can you see life the way God wants you to see it, and only then can you help your kids see God in His present work in their lives. A friend won’t talk to them anymore? They’re failing algebra? They’re uncertain what to do with their lives? They’re experiencing increased temptation at school? You need to help them see God’s purposes for these experiences. This is part of how we bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And this will absolutely involve showing them God in His Word. They will doubt that this current distress could possibly be God’s best for them. They may even be tempted to be mad at Him. Give them more than your word. Give them His Word. Show then the passages where God reveals His plan for their current joy or pain. But that’s going to require that you know His Word and understand the doctrines of God’s providence, sovereignty, will, and sanctification. But I urge you not to tackle this alone. God created His people to flourish in community. Therefore . . . D. Invite others to show them God in His Word and work. We’ve discussed the importance of a God-centered parenting community. We’ve talked about God’s plan for His church, and I’ll provide links for some of these resources. But I cannot overstate the importance of this point. Our lives are so busy, so self-centered, so distracted. In addition to that, the World is doing an amazing job catechizing us and our kids. We need more people who will come around us and our kids with the truth of God. Your kids need an invested youth pastor, yes, but he’s not enough. Your kids need other family and disciples in their lives. They need other people to point to God’s work in this World, in His Word, and in their lives and help them see it and truly believe it. But there’s one more very important step. It’s one thing to teach, it’s quite another to assess whether learning has taken place. E. Have them show you God in His Word and work. At some point you need to stop tying your child’s shoe and watch them tie it for themselves. At some point they need to be able to see for themselves how God is working in the world, in His word, and in their lives in the past and the present. Teach them, draw out their understanding, invite them to believe the truth, and then when they show they’re maturing, ask them to show you what God is doing in their lives. By the Lord’s grace, they’ll even start offering their observations of their own free will. But if we never invite them to interpret their present situation in light of God’s revealed truth, they likely won’t. And if we’re not teaching them what God is doing in their present situation, they’re not just going to come to a right understanding of His work in their lives. Conclusion
Your kids absolutely need to see God working. Your heavenly Father wants them to see Him working. He commands you to show them how He’s working. He knows they cannot believe what they do not know, and they cannot know if they do not see.
And they absolutely must see because seeing leads to believing, and believing leads to seeing correctly so that eventually even that which is unseen can be trusted. Please share this episode with your parenting community and church family so that we can all help our families see and believe the living and active and working God. And if you need help in this regard, or if you’re uncertain how to proceed in your current family struggle, please email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at (828) 423-0894. And then join us next time as we build on this foundation in our discussion entitled “Give Your Children Something to Believe.” I’ll see you then.
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