First Be Fed

I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for nearly twelve years. In that time and with my husband’s support, we have spent significant funds on my own education in both theology and counseling. I’ve had a number of well-meaning people ask what the point of all that time and money spent could be if I’m “not gonna use it” (meaning a full-time job in counseling). Besides my growth in loving the Lord and my own personal enrichment, stories like this are why I do what I do:

As we were driving, we heard a song that alluded to the apostle Paul “finishing the good race”. My youngest daughter (four years old) asked what that even meant. Before I could answer, my ten-year-old explained that Paul wrote about the race as the Christian life and finishing was talking about his death. (Thank you to the Bible-reading plan that we are all doing together.)

My littlest then asked how Paul died. Before I could answer that, my middle daughter (seven years old) answered that he died by orders from Nero, but that likely a soldier did the actual killing. (Thank you church history courses and their impact on homeschool history classes.)

Then Littlest got really quiet. She asked, “If God made all things, why would He make Nero to be such a bad guy?”

The whole car got silent.

After a long pause, I quietly asked her a simple question from the Children’s Catechism: “Why did God make you and all things?” She knew to answer, “For His own glory.”

I asked them all a little louder “What is the chief end of man?” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 1) They sang in unison: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

This seemed to satiate the Littlest, but my little theologian, the middle daughter, who has had chronic digestive problems since she was born, quietly asked “But how? How does the evil man Nero bring glory to God?”

I reminded her that, if we believe the Bible is true, the only perfect person in all of existence died willingly at the hands of Roman soldiers. If God really does work all things together for good to those that love Him, if He really is preparing a perfect place for His people, even if it doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t see how, then even the horrors that Nero commanded brought glory to God because that was in God’s perfect plan. I expounded a theology of suffering and of the cross, the beauty that only God can bring from ashes, the immense comfort we can have, resting in the promise of God’s sovereignty.

For a girl who has been praying for her own healing, this was not as encouraging as you’d think. With a head hung low, she sighed and resigned in surrender, “Even my belly problems can bring glory to God.”

In that moment, she got it. Her history lessons, her Bible reading, her catechism memorization, and her lived experience all collided together to see that God is glorified in even our hardest of trouble.

That moment, that five-minute conversation in the car, that application of doctrine and life is why I spend money and hours on Bible training.

Charles Spurgeon said in his book for parents and teachers, Come Ye Children, “First be fed, then feed.” This is the call for parents, pastors, teachers, and preachers to be well-equipped in both doctrine and practice to answer the insatiable curiosity of children. Be prepared to answer them “when you come and when you go.” (Deut. 6:7)

Maybe you aren’t in a time or place to jump into a seminary course. But how’s your Bible reading going? How is your prayer life? How are you using other resources to expound your understanding of God? If “the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (Deut. 29:29), how well do you know those things that have been revealed? May we all go back to school this fall with humility and a plan to continue to grow in our own knowledge and love for the Lord that all of our lives may be “for His own glory.”