If you’re a parent, you likely have said or thought about how much easier it would be if you knew the future. Parenting would be a snap if you had a crystal ball or an accurate magic eight ball. The thing is — you do! You have a road map of this age. You have the end of the maze. No, we don’t have all the details we would like to possess, but by knowing the absolute end of things from biblical prophecy, we can know the trajectory in which things are headed. Typically, the knowledge of end-time prophecy is only applied to geopolitical projections, but what if we applied it to parenting? What if we parented by the end of the maze? What if we parent with end-time prophecy?
On one hand, this sounds crazy, I know. On the other, it sounds genius. Just like a maze is much easier to complete if you begin at the end and work your way back to the beginning, so could our parenting — all of life for that matter.
What if we reverse engineered parenting? As believers, we have the tools to do just that. For starters, by knowing how this age ends and what ultimately matters eternally, we can accurately form goals for our children. Yes, we want them to be successful, do well in school, get great jobs and find the perfect spouse (like I did — I’m going for bonus points).
Yet, we know from the Word that, ultimately, what matters most is that our children come to follow Jesus and follow Him for all the days of their lives. The end of the maze for our children is an image of the gathering of the redeemed around the throne of God in His kingdom — will our children be there? Secondly, it’s the image of the judgment seat of Christ — will our children hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant?”
We know what waits at the end of the maze of life, so we’re far, far ahead of nonbelieving parents. We have far more than an accurate magic eight ball. What if we reverse engineered our parenting from the Judgment Seat of Christ back? Not only do we know the ultimate goal for our children, we know the very challenges they will face.
The most heartbreaking prophecy to me is found in Matt. 24:10, which warns that many will turn away. This talks about a particular time in the future, but it’s already happening. Lifeway Research shares that nearly two-thirds of children raised in church are gone by age 22 and few are coming back. This should break our hearts.
This also shouldn’t surprise us because it’s written in black and white in our Bibles — actually, this particular warning is written in red. We’re warned. What if we parented with this warning in mind?
No, we can’t prevent many from turning away, but we can help that not happen to our children. I encourage you to lean into Scripture and reverse-engineer your parenting. Not just your parenting, but also your church’s ministry to the emerging generation.
To further help do this, Stand Firm has begun an initiative to take what I’ve learned on my journey of helping believers stand firm and apply it to parenting. We have begun a blog for parents. You can find it at standfirmministries.com/blogs. I also have just launched a new podcast called “Stand Firm Parents.” The podcast is available everywhere podcasts can be found. You can find the podcast by searching for “Stand Firm Parents” on your favorite podcast platform.
“Stand Firm Parents” is helping families have a faith that lasts. I am reverse-engineering parenting based on the authority of the Word, based on Bible prophecy. In the most recent episode, Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter joined me. We talked about his book, Already Gone which chronicled the unfortunate reality of professed-Christian children and teens leaving the church, and often the faith. If you’re a parent, grandparent or work with the next generation, please check out this unique take on biblical parenting.
Let’s help families have a faith that lasts by parenting with end-time prophecy.
Jake is available for revivals and preaching learn more at standfirmministries.com.
