What God Teaches Us Through Our Children

I believe that one of the reasons we have children is to teach us lessons. One of these is that we should be grateful for what God does for us and is doing in us.

That is not said lightly because I firmly believe that God uses many events in our lives as tools to teach us about Himself and His work of Grace in our lives.

Oft times we are so exasperated by the attitude and actions that our children exhibit at their circumstances or at the objects they are privileged to have or not to have.  This exasperation causes us to have feelings of resentment, anger, frustration, grief, worry, etc.  directed at the feelings and actions our children exhibit.

How do we as parents react to their "reactions"?  Just what do we do when our denial to our child of a privilege or an outing or a play toy results in their subsequent very "fleshly" reaction?  You know what I mean:  whining, crying, fussing, storming out of the room, eye-rolling,  or pouting.  Definitely "fleshly!"

Do we rise up in all the glory of our parental authority and exercise stern discipline on the offending child with the obvious character issue?  A child who is in need of a very real "attitude adjustment!"  Or do we take a moment and teach that child with love and grace how they really should react when they don't like what life deals them?

God in His love and grace extends that love and grace to us when we, the adults here,  whine because we don't like not having things we want.  Or when life deals us situations that are not those of our choice.  Do we feel betrayed by God when we're sick or a loved one is sick?  Do we feel short-changed when blessings are being showered on others but not on us?  Are our inner-most feelings the same as those of the whining, crying, fussing, pouting child?  Are they definitely "fleshly"?

I repeat: 

I believe that one of the reasons we have children is to teach us lessons. One of these is that we should be grateful for what God does for us and is doing in us.