Stay faithful

"Whatever you do, stay faithful to the LORD yourself," she said to me, "So many fall away when their children rebel.  They go into the world themselves and then when the children want to get right, they have nowhere to go - nothing to come back to."  As the pastor's wife I had just met at our church youth camp spoke to me I realized that the temptation that has sometimes nagged me is common to those whose children have strayed from the truth.  The temptation has come to just go back to "middle of the road" Christianity - maybe if we weren't so "radical" our children wouldn't reject our faith.    It is painful to be rejected by any relative or friend but even more so by the children we have poured our hearts and lives into.  The devil whispers that if we just softened the truth a bit maybe they would come back and maybe we could be more acceptable to them.  The thought has come when my children don't want to go to church because they don't fit in, that we could find a church where they felt comfortable.  Sometimes I become weary of standing and fighting for the standards our family has set. I long for peace and sweet relationship and am tempted to move in their direction by just giving in to their rebellion.  As I write I recognize the danger in this thinking and the fallacy of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy.  I wouldn't say I've ever seriously considered letting go of the truths of scripture we've come to practice, but I must admit the tempter has certainly run the thoughts past me on occasion and I was thankful for a "heads-up" to keep my eyes open for this deception and stay strong in the faith and in prayer.  To keep fighting for right and truth and standing strong with the LORD's help.  I had a candid conversation with one of my wayward sons yesterday. I sense his longing for right living and his regret over the messes he's made in his life and the consequences, yet he said he just wasn't quite ready to yield yet. Wayward children know the truth and even they, I believe, want to know that there are those still standing strong for the right.  To know that when they want to come back - we'll be waiting with open arms right behind the LORD to welcome them into the Kingdom of light.