And then, third, I would say, remember that some departures from the Christian faith by our children are only temporary. It could be five years, could be three years, could be 10 or 20 years, but if one day is in the sight of the Lord like a thousand years, then despite the season of absence, or even the years the locust has eaten, restoration can occur. Where your children are now is not where they will always be. See, our children can get away from us, but they cannot get away from those everlasting arms and those pierced hands. Now, I really believe that.
And then, fourth, remember that the Lord loves our children more than we ever could. I find great comfort in that thought, and may I say to you, Beloved, that the lord Himself has dealt with wayward children. Indeed, He has had some wayward children, both in Israel and in Judea during the time of the divided monarchy in Israel and Judah. He knows the heartbreak. If you have a moment, and you can get there, you may want to turn to the book of Hosea, chapter 11. In this great chapter, verse 2, God says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, but the more I called Israel, the more he went from me." Then follows this long list of utter abominations, sins that would make any nation worthy of God's wrath, but then the Lord, like any parent, looks on his wayward people and says, and I really love this, get the pathos of this. God says in Hosea 11:8, "How can I give you up? How can I hand you over? My heart is changed within Me. My compassion is aroused." And then, just like a heartbroken parent, it is like the Lord encourages Himself, and He says of Israel in Hosea 11:11, "Ah, but they will follow Me, and I will let them dwell in their houses." It is like the Lord is saying, "Someday, My boy, My daughter, is going to love Me again and will be close to Me again and will obey Me again." Now, I need to know that God has experienced these kinds of feelings and emotions. God sees our anguish as parents when our children blow off their love for us or their love for the Lord. He sees our pain. He understands our vacillation. All the mixed emotions, the toll that it takes on us, and I believe that He would tell us this morning out of His Word that He has been there and that He understands, and that there is, therefore, now no condemnation. You see, God's heart was broken time and again by Israel's spiritual harlotry, her unfaithfulness, those terrible seasons of apostasy, when, under every high hill, she worshiped every other god, except the Lord God. Now, that is rebellion. And it was crushing.
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And some of you this morning are Manoah's kin, and you are being crushed. And many of you know other Christian people who are being crushed because of the dissipation and licentious lifestyle and hellion ways of children once raised in the church but now far away from God. But God understands. And I believe He weeps with many Christian parents in the night watches who beat themselves up, who fall to a selfdeprecating spirit, who say to themselves and to those closest to them time and again, "Where did I blow it? How did I fail?" And we forget that there are those children who prefer their own will over against their divine will.
