Family Talk Night Light for Parents

Our Source of Security

The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you. 2 Thessalonians 3:3

Christian singer Rebecca St. James faced a test of faith the year her family moved from Australia to Nashville, Tennessee. Two months after they arrived in America, Rebecca’s father lost his job. Rebecca, her parents, and her five siblings were left on the other side of the world with no other family, no close friends, no car, no furniture, no income, and a new brother or sister on the way. They felt lost and couldn’t help wondering if God knew what He was doing.

But the St. Jameses didn’t give up on God in their time of crisis. They responded in the only way they knew how—by sitting on the floor as a family and praying. Soon after, the Lord began providing. Groceries and furniture were delivered to their doorstep. A family donated a car. An anonymous friend even paid for Rebecca’s new sister, Libby, to be born in a hospital. God did have a plan.

When your children feel discouraged or that their lives are out of control, talk to them about Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” When they are afraid, show them how to pray as David did: “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7). When they are anxious, teach them to put their burdens before God to find the holy peace that guards hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6–7).

We’ve offered several tips this week about how to provide security and stability for your children. The best advice we can give you, however, is to remember that the true source of security for children and their parents is always our loving and merciful God.

-Shirley M. Dobson

• From Night Light For Parents, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
  Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Illustration adapted from The Dance of Heaven by Becky Sowers (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 2001).