I was thinking last night about how to deal with a distant daughter or son. I have two daughters myself, and sometimes children will go through phases. They may become distant, even manipulative, or seemingly aloof or disinterested in almost any kind of interaction with their parents.
I was thinking about the frustration a parent feels in this case, and actually know it well. You feel hurt. You would die for this child, give your life for her or him if it came down to it.
But she has her face buried in a phone all day. She ignores instructions, requests, even greetings. Maybe she has a hundred excuses for why she cannot talk right now or do some simple task.
Maybe the parent will become so frustrated that they begin to feel their heart hardening against the child. The parent feels dishonored, disrespected, and plainly dissed.
I feel like God spoke plainly to me about this subject, and it was a simple and short message.
We have to remember that we too have a heavenly Father. We have, at times, disrespected Him. We have ignored Him for weeks on end, even years, sometimes decades. We too have had our head buried in child-raising or a career or a relationship or a pet sin. We have at times been rebellious, cold, undeserving of his love and the great gift of existence that he has given to us.
We are hypocrites if we complain about our children’s inattention.
Once we realize that we too have been distant children, we also realize that the answer to the problem we are facing is grace, mercy, and unconditional love and patience. We must be patient with them. We must wait for them. We must constantly let them know that we are always there for them. We must be ready to receive their love and attention back at any time.
Of course it is our instinct to grow cold against those who are hurting us. We must never allow that to happen. We must always remember the unlimited grace and mercy our Father God had in dealing with us, and model our behavior after Him.