Equip

A few weeks ago, our family took a trip to beautiful Hawaii. A particular beach was different from all the others. It was a small section of sand and waves, but it was mighty. The waves rolled back and forth with power and echoed the sound of thunder. I looked at it with reservation as my boys grabbed their boogieboards and headed in with smiles from ear to ear. 

I ran in front of my boys and planted my feet firmly in the sand. The waves would come in with force and then even more forcefully would draw back into the ocean only to create an even larger wave. I decided to be the catcher. I had to keep them from getting sucked back into the ocean. I kept looking back and forth to make sure a rogue wave wouldn’t knock me down as I was trying to keep my kids safe. A sensation of anxiety started to well up in me all the while the boys were laughing, and joy was the best word to describe their little spirits in that moment. They had no idea that what they were doing was quite dangerous. 

After a short time, we all decided this beach was just too much and decided to pack up. Afterwards I sat in the car and thought of the big, scary waves. I saw them as big mouths representing the world and they were after my kids, ready to gobble them up into its temptations and conformities. I thought, this is how life feels right now, and I must keep them from getting swallowed up. 

Fast forward to this last week, I felt God gave me a new revelation on this entire thought. A thought that in a season of uncertainty, am I just protecting my boys from the mouth that might gobble them up, or am I truly equipping them to resist the waves that come? On the beach that day, I was exhausted trying to catch my boys from the dangerous ocean and as I was busy protecting, I was not equipping them for the endeavor. I did not bring lifejackets; I didn’t give them a pep talk about what to expect and I certainly could not trust that they could withstand the force of the waves on their own.

In the book of 1 Samuel, we read of a young boy who slayed the great giant, Goliath with one smooth stone and a sling. David, a man after God’s own heart, had been equipped to do something others thought impossible. Before killing the giant Philistine, he had confidence that he could slay him. As being the keeper of the sheep he had already defended his sheep from a lion and a bear. (1 Samuel 17:37) And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” David was a young man who had been equipped, ready, faithful, and brave. He had great confidence that the Lord was with him and would be his great protector. A day where David was only supposed to deliver food to his brothers became a day he defeated the great giant. The bible does not mention David’s mother, but I have to wonder what she would have thought if she knew what her son was about to do? Can we honestly say as mother’s we would be okay with letting our sons slay bears, lions and giants? 

Today I am encouraged and reminded in my own mothering to be an equipper and not just a protector from the things our children are and will continue to face. To raise them as mighty warriors for the kingdom of God. To equip them in the word of God and to trust them to do the work of the Kingdom with God on their side. To raise them to be mighty little boys and girls who will be a people after God’s own heart. When the waves of life come and trials and temptations come, may they be the ones who plant their feet firmly in the sand and say, “with God, all things are possible!” 

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 1 Samuel 17:45