He Will Stand
"Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his
own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make
him stand." --Romans 14:4
I may be taking this verse out of context, but perhaps not. The
14th and 15th chapters of Romans urge us to accept the
believer whose faith is weak, to refuse to be an obstacle between a brother and
the Lord, and to bear with others in order to demonstrate the grace of Jesus
Christ extended to both us and them.
Funny how these truths make sense to me in light of
mothering teenage sons. These days I am surprised often by the subtle-sharp
shock of the reality of their separateness. At times I have found myself strung
with tension, death-gripping seasons recent and past, mourning a phase of life
that is passing, fearing the changes that are already turning the color of our
days like the overnight blush on October leaves. The irony is that I'll wake
tomorrow and it will be winter unless I grasp the truth about letting go. The
truth is that this winter has chilled my soul once, and I would hurl myself, heave
my fear, and leave my children at the cross of Christ a thousand times before
subjecting myself to it again.
I have three sons who openly claim the Lord Jesus as their authority and the rescuer of their souls. They stand alongside me in worship,
and they take part in prayer with their dad, with me, and with others as
equals. They do their best to stand with their peers in strength and loyalty. They
are not naïve to struggle. They are not naïve to temptation. They are not naïve
to some of the worst that human beings have to offer. They are not naïve to
their own weaknesses. They are not naïve to the limitless warm swell of the
very grace of God.
Not that long ago their Bibles needed pictures of epic
heroes and wind-whipped waves. Not that long ago I molded their hands into
little clasped fists and gently pressed their sweaty heads into a reverent bow.
Not that long ago I elbowed their squirmy sides on Sunday mornings. Not that
long ago I had to explain. I had to remind. I had to wonder.
As both their mother and a spiritual leader, I was and am
flawed, fearful, and too-often failing. But God is gracious. It was by his
grace that he gave me a season to press and mold and model and hold. Yes, God
is gracious, because these young men stand. The same rescuer of my own soul
will go to any length to defend theirs. If in any sense they were ever mine, it
has always been under his authority. They are his servants, and who am I? I see
now that I have never been their master. I am their mother, but to their own
master they stand and fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them
stand.
God is gracious.
We will stand.
ErinRMS 8/5/15
