As parents, our instinct compels us to protect and guard our children from any harm. Whether it’s harm that might come through rejection, failure, or a specific trauma that results from a negative social, mental, or physical experience, we want to shield our children as best we can. We want them to thrive in every way. We want them to be successful. We want them to love and be fully loved. And we can’t help but surround them and try to be that shield that protects them in every way possible.
Grace to release our child
But there comes a time when we need to release that child. When we need to release them into a new experience that has potential to lead them into something greater. It’s in these moments of release that we need God’s grace.
In raising a child with special-needs, we have had many opportunities to practice this first hand. If you parent a child with a particular diagnosis, the tendency is to protect and prevent harm with even greater effort and intensity. We have released our daughter into new therapy programs, classroom structures, social environments, the hands of medical professionals – and for each one, we needed a level of grace. And this summer, we needed a new grace to release our daughter into something that didn’t allow us to surround and protect her as before.
Our ten-year-old had the opportunity to attend her first overnight camp with our church. The children’s minister and her team were prepared to support our daughter throughout the four days away at camp, and we were eager to see our daughter in a spiritual environment that would create moments for her to be marked by God in a special way. With our eagerness was also the instinct to protect, and knowing that Charlie would be out of our hands meant that we would have to trust her in the hands of someone else.
There was a mother in the book of Exodus who needed a special grace to release her son and trust him into the hands of one greater than she. She chose to release him by the grace of God and a greater work which compelled her to respond with great faith. Jochebed, mother of Moses, released her son into a river that carried him into his divine destiny (Exodus 2:3). She had to ultimately trust in the protection and hand of Almighty God upon his life. Moses had a divine purpose that extended beyond his mother’s reach. A purpose that changed and shaped history.
Three things on the other side of release
With the grace of God at work in our hearts as parents, like Jochebed, we released Charlie into the hands of God. That release led her into a series of moments that marked her and others in a deep way. Charlie left for camp and little did we know the magnitude of what God wanted to do not only in, but through our daughter.
As God gave us the grace to release our daughter, He continues to reveal something powerful to our hearts. I want to share three things that can happen when we receive the grace to release our children into the new things God has for them…
1. Divine appointments
On the other side of Moses’ release was Pharaoh’s daughter who would have compassion towards Moses to raise him up. She was not only marked by Moses but also was a part of preparing Moses for God’s greater purpose. The same is possible with our children. There can be divine appointments with people who God wants to mark through our children, and who can be used to mark our children as well.
2. Glory moment
God created our children with a purpose, so that his glory might be revealed (John 9:3). Moses was released into a glory moment in which God could carry out his divine plan and purpose that was shaping the hearts and future of those he loved. When we release our children into something new, God’s glory is sure to be revealed.
3. Shaping moment
God not only works through our children, but he also shapes them in these moments of release. He is the author and perfecter of our faith and theirs. He can use all things for the good of those who love and trust Him. He shaped Moses into the leader and man of God he was called to be. And he can do the same with our children when we release them into what and who God is setting before them.
Our daughter returned home from camp and the testimony of what God did strengthened our faith as parents. Testimonies from leaders of divine appointments, glory and shaping moments confirm and inspire us to release our daughter to walk through doors the Lord opens in the future.
Are you struggling to release your child into something new? Ask God to give you grace as a parent. And as you release them with the help of God’s grace, watch him work his plans in and through your child for his glory and greater purpose!
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