shawnethomas

Those of us who have children know that parenting can be a very “up and down” experience. Cheryl & I have talked about this a number of times. It’s like you never get to “sit on your laurels” — even when you experience a victory with your kids, there is some new “crisis” just lurking around the corner. One time when our kids were in high school Cheryl & I had gone with our son David to the regional high school track meet where he was competing in the 400 meter run, and he surprised us, and actually PLACED at regionals — as a freshman! We were SO excited, and on the way home we were just so thrilled, and talking about that — when all of the sudden we got a call from our daughter Libby that our oldest son Paul had just been “let go” from his first job at a sandwich shop because he was too meticulous at putting the sandwiches together — they said he “wasn’t Subway material.” After we got that call, Cheryl & I looked at each and we said something like, “Can’t we just savor one day of victory in our kids’ lives, without having some crisis pop up again?” But that is often the way it is with kids; you go from highs to lows, over and over and over.

And we need to understand that the same thing happens in our spiritual lives as well. Every Christian gets some “spiritual highs” where we experience God in a fresh way, or take a special “leap forward” in learning and growing in Him — but we also need to learn that the “spiritual highs” don’t typically last very long. Here in Matthew 3 and 4 we see that Jesus, who modeled so much for us about what it means for a man and to walk with God, went through this same thing. He went from a spiritual “high” right into a time of testing, as an example for us in our spiritual lives as well. Continue reading →