TURNAROUND TUESDAY! Focused intercession for sons and daughters as well as for God’s shifts in government across the land. Take the day to pray!
DEAR FRIENDS,
IT WAS THE SOUND EVERY PARENT DREADS. When my daughter was around four years old, she slipped on stairs to the basement. Seemingly endless thumps accompanied piercing screams. I raced down the stairs after her, praying like a madman. I was completely surprised to find my daughter relatively calm at the foot of the stairs, seemingly barely harmed!
All at once, right in the midst of this crisis, Holy Spirit spoke to me a Scripture. “Isaiah 49:25” flashed through my mind.
I immediately thought, “Lord, I’m kind of busy here, got my hands full, could you not just tell me the verse?” But that didn’t happen. Instead I rushed my daughter to a local hospital just to make sure she was okay. After a thorough evaluation the doctors could not find even a fracture.
It wasn’t until later that night, just before bed, that I finally had the time to look up the passage. Keep in mind this incident occurred long before mobile phones or Rabbi Google could provide instant results with little effort. I did something that might give most of us pause today. I grabbed an actual Bible. With pages!
The contents discovered were breathtaking given the circumstances. “I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I will save your children!” (Isaiah 49:25). As I prayed, it became clear that this was more than a scripture over a situation. It was a covenant promise from the Lord. And that the Lord gave this covenant promise to carry us through the rest of our lives.
“I will contend.” From this time forward I knew God was promising to take the initiative in the healing, deliverance, and blessing of my children. Little did I know how much more I would need this covenant promise from the Lord later in their lives. It soon carried me, and especially my children, through challenges we could then barely even imagine. Rebellion. Discord. Demonic attacks. Damages to heart and soul were all ahead. Yet God remained utterly faithful. And again and again He has brought a turnaround where there seemed to be no way forward!
Let me be clear, just because the Lord promises to intervene does not mean we had no responsibility in the matter. Instead the opposite is true. The spiritual conflict Jolene and I had to engage in and overcome was some of the highest we have ever experienced. It actually prepared us for national battles.
And honestly, if we had not had the promise that the Lord was going to pull our kids through, we would probably have given up long before gaining the victory.
But the other aspect of this is that both the wars and victories belonged to the Lord, not to us. We brought love and discipline. But like every parent, sometimes we failed. The promise that the Lord would contend, and save our children, meant that He was the one in charge of the battle. And that His pathway included mending and repairing damage we tried to prevent.
That’s really difficult, especially as parents. But we realized that many times the greatest weapon of warfare was simply let go in the natural and trust Him to fulfill His promise His way.
IT WAS THE MOMENT EVERY PARENT DREAMS OF. My daughter, a new graduate from high school, sat us down to ask our perspective on plans she had made for the future. She had decided to pursue a career in the military. “Pray for me, I’m going into the Air Force,” she said. Then there was a short pause followed by a flash of a smile. “No wait. Pray for the AIR FORCE, because I’m going into the Air Force!”
We all laughed around the table. Probably because there might have been at least a little truth in the statement. I knew just what to pray. Lord, contend with those who contend against my daughter, in the spirit and natural! Deliver her from all harm. Mature her in You. Save our children. AND SAVE THE AIR FORCE!”
Challenges indeed arose. But through it all my daughter really did well. She matured greatly. She mastered new skills in a field that now has become her career. She prospered. During her time of service my daughter met and married a fantastic, highly responsible man who loves her wholeheartedly and treats her far better than any guy she dated before. They are secure, stable, and hilarious together. A few years ago they even gave us a beautiful grandchild.
My point? When God promises to contend and save, He goes far beyond what we could imagine. This is absolutely true with both of our children.
One recent conversation brought me to tears. It went something like this.
“Dad, do you remember when we were little and you brought us to Washington DC and we toured the National Mall and all the memorials and I complained because I thought the mall you were bringing us to would actually have stores?”
“Uh… yeah, as a matter of fact I do.”
“And I judged you for being excessively, overly patriotic ever since?”
My face turned red. I hoped she did not notice. “Well… yeah.”
“Dad I just want you to know, after being in the Air Force I get it now. I really do. I appreciate like never before the sacrifices made to keep nation free.”
That meant everything to me. Now let me tell you a secret I’ve discovered. The same God who is bigger than the unforeseen challenges my children would face is also bigger than the challenges we as a nation face. The promise remains the same. So does the pathway through to salvation.
“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, and the prey of a tyrant will be rescued; for I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I will save your children” (Isaiah 49:25).
