A Mother’s Heartache

The younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. (Luke 15:13)

Anna had dreaded this conversation ever since she’d agreed to attend her husband’s family reunion. The women were gathered in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables and updating one another on the lives of their grown children. As the conversation worked its way around the circle, Anna tried to hold back her tears and muster the strength to tell the others about her daughter, Lisa. Though she was proud of her daughter’s accomplishments, Anna daily grieved the choices Lisa had made in the past few years. She had drifted further and further from the Lord.

“How is Lisa doing?” someone asked. Anna smiled weakly, shrugged her shoulders, and started to answer, but the words got caught in her throat. Then she felt a soothing hand on her shoulder. Her sister-in-law Janice stepped to her side.

“Anna and Jake are experiencing what several of us have endured with our own grown children,” began Janice. “But we’re going to trust that God has His hand on Lisa and He’ll battle for her all the way.” Anna was relieved to see genuine, empathetic smiles and nods of encouragement.

Parenting comes with no guarantees. Many parents, though they raise their children to know and love God, must endure the heartache of watching a child walk away from the Lord. Some parents get angry and confused because they believed Proverbs 22:6 to be a sort of parenting warranty: “Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” But this Scripture, like all Proverbs, is a biblical maxim or principle, not a promise. You cannot force a grown child to go to church, choose a godly mate, or live a holy life; but you can wait, pray, and hope in the Lord.