Fear, My News Feed, and Psalm 46

Anyone else feeling prone to panic these days? I watched CCN 10 (a 10-minute global news show for students) with my daughters this morning and it had my stomach in knots. The photos from the earthquake in Mexico were heart wrenching. The impending doom for Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria was sickening. And the update on threats coming from Kim Jong-Un in North Korea was downright scary.  

These calamities and potential catastrophes feel close. I’m traveling to South America via Mexico this fall and the earthquake tempts me to consider staying home instead. I’ve been in enough earthquakes in Japan to feel paralyzed by the thought of going through more. And North Korea’s threat of an electromagnetic attack by detonating a nuclear bomb almost directly above Colorado has me feeling very vulnerable in the middle of this continent. Our planet’s current natural disasters and political unrest are almost too much. 

I am so thankful the girls and I memorized Psalm 46 last week. I can’t encourage you enough to do the same. Right now I need the power of God’s words in this Psalm to re-center me in the face of fear. Without the constant reminders of his power and protection, readily available in my stream of consciousness, I would be tempted to despair.  

And not only that, but my kids are looking to me for how they should respond to the news, as well. Their eyes go from the screen to my face and back with each story. They want to see how I’m processing what I’m seeing—how I handle it. I need to be ready to respond with the Word of God for their sakes and mine. Neither their hope nor mine will be satisfied in geography, or diplomacy, or statistics. I want our hope, our refuge, our strength to be in God alone. 

As we pour over Psalm 46 we can see Mexico in verse 2. We can see Puerto Rico in verse 3. We can see North Korea in verse 6. And we can see the Lord our God in verses 7-11. We can turn our sights on history and “behold the works of the Lord.”  We can remind ourselves with each news reel that when the Lord “utters his voice, the earth melts.” 

No matter what comes, our God will be exalted in the nations. He is over all the Earth. And we have the City of God (verse 4) to look forward to! This world is not the end of the story. Come what may, we Christians will indeed join the Most High in his holy habitation.  

Like Peter instructed the early church, I want to “set [my] hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).  Jesus and his grace are my only hope. I want to tuck reminders of that hope in my mind and heart and freely transfer them to my daughters in times of uncertainty.  

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength,

    a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam,

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy habitation of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

    God will help her when morning dawns.

6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

    he utters his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord of hosts is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,

    how he has brought desolations on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

    he burns the chariots with fire.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God.

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth!”

11 The Lord of hosts is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

You may enjoy meditating on this Psalm through song, as well. The famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God” was written by Martin Luther in the 1500s and is based on the words of Psalm 46. With the 500th anniversary of the Reformation upon us next month, it would be a timely and life-giving anthem to have at the ready. Here is a helpful history of the hymn from Tim Challies and my favorite rendition of it by HeartSong at Cedarville University. 

Originally written and published by Jen Oshman. Used with permission.

Remembering and Recommitting to Our Parenting Manifesto

“Ok, Dad, we have to run. Do you want to come with the baby to the NICU?”

Not exactly the words a mother wants to hear the very second she pushes her child out. But that’s what our neonatal doctor said to my husband when Abby Grace entered the world 12 years ago. During labor my obstetrician asked us, “Have you ever been told about her erratic heartbeat?” That was the first indication that something was wrong.    

After she entered the world her heart went from beating so fast they were afraid she’d have a heart attack to so slow they worried it would stop. I vividly remember a team of NICU doctors and nurses dressed in magenta scrubs racing my newborn baby down the corridors in the old military hospital where she was born in Okinawa, Japan. 

As soon as I was allowed, I was wheeled from the labor and delivery room to the NICU.  Abby Grace was resting inside a warm, glass dome, connected to a tangle of wires and tubes. While myriad machines beeped around her I looked in and found her eyes wide open. She looked back at me. I cooed and cried and she stared. I prayed to God, “Lord, do not let me fall asleep. Please keep my eyes wide open. If this night is the only one she is going to live, please don’t let me miss even one second of it.” 

Every year on and around her birthday, Mark and I recount all the drama of Abby Grace’s delivery and the weeks that followed. We often tear up when we think about how precarious her life seemed in those first days. We laugh when we remember how her two-year-old sister donned a face mask and met her for the first time. We wipe our tears when we think about how her heart finally steadied four weeks after she was born. You’d never know it now.

Kids’ birthdays are poignant times to reflect on what the Lord has done in their lives and in ours, through them. I think it’s universal for parents to remember their babies’ births and to dream about what’s to come.  Our kids are all in double digits now, with our youngest having recently turned ten. We’ve exited the stage of babies and toddlers and littles and we’re in the throes of shaping teens and pre-teens, praying that God allows us to launch them according to his good will for their lives. 

As such, Mark and I are reviewing the Oshman Parenting Manifesto, which we brainstormed together and he wrote out a few years back. The Manifesto is our commitment to remembering what matters in parenting. We find that so many things in the world aim to capture the hearts of our children and their futures, as well as our efforts as parents. Our goals and desires for our kids can shift with each cultural wind, if we’re not committed to what really matters. 

I want to share our Manifesto here, in hopes that it will encourage you as you pursue what’s best for your kids. We owe this to the Word of God and the people of God—both have shaped us and mentored us in our role as mom and dad these last 14 years. We are immeasurably grateful for the parents who have gone before us and discipled us along the way! 

Oshman Parenting Manifesto

We believe Jesus is the most valuable treasure in the universe.

1. The surpassing worth of Jesus is reason to give our lives to the pursuit of Him (Philippians 3:14; Hebrews 12:2). 

2. All of life is about Jesus, from Jesus, through Jesus and to Jesus (Colossians 1:16-17; Romans 11:36).

3. Without knowing, worshipping, loving, and pursuing Jesus, life is meaningless (Matthew 7:21-23).

4. As your parents, God has entrusted us to disciple you and point you toward him (Proverbs 22:6).

Our goal as your parents: To provide opportunity and encouragement for you to know, love, worship, and pursue Jesus. 

Our goal as your parents IS NOT...

1. That you would get a good job and make a lot of money.

2. That you would get a great education.

3. That you would be really successful in the world’s eyes.

4. That you would have all the great stuff of life and Jesus too. 

5. That you would have a great husband, kids, and family. 

6. That life would go smoothly for you or that you would be “happy.”

Our goal as your parents is...

1. That no matter what you do, you do it in pursuit of Jesus.

2. If you want to become a doctor, great! - How will that pursuit lead you to a greater experience of Jesus? If you want to wash dishes, great! How will that pursuit lead you to a greater experience of Jesus?

3. If you want to become a lawyer, or chef, or missionary, mother, etc... how will you make Jesus the center of all of those activities?

How we will pursue this goal:

• By providing a home where exercising our faith, prayer, worship, study of God’s Word, repentance, and reconciliation are normal activities for us individually and together.

• By continually asking you important questions... like:

1. How will certain decisions affect your spiritual life?

2. Who are you going to surround yourself with and how will you affect them and they affect you spiritually?

3. What does/will worship in that situation/calling/school look like for you?

4. How are you using your time, talent, and treasure to magnify Christ? 

5. What ways are you currently pursuing Christ?

6. How does the gospel affect the decision you will make...?

7. How are you/will you be an active participant in the body of Christ?

8. What struggles are you currently facing? How can we pray for you in those struggles?  Is there anything we can do to help?

“What if I don’t want to follow Jesus?”

1. We will continue to love you, pray for you, and encourage you toward Christ. 

2. We will not do anything that we feel will contribute to a lifestyle that rejects God.

3. As you become adults, you will have to make adult decisions.

4. We will not enable you to sin or live a life that rejects God’s good will for your life.

Originally written and published by Jen Oshman. Used with permission.

Are We Training Our Children to Gain the World But Lose Their Souls?

You’re a good mom. You’re a good dad. You want what’s best for your kids. You sacrifice to provide for them. You forego vacations and skimp on retirement savings to give them good gifts. 

In the affluent West in 2018, those good gifts often take the form of youth sports. In fact, 63% of American families spend $100 to $500 per month, per kid, on youth sports (USA Today). There’s an unspoken rule among us that says, The more we invest in our kids’ sports, the better childhood they will have, and the more successful adults they will be.

We sign them up for t-ball, baseball, and softball as early as allowed. We shop around for the best soccer team, and then drive across town multiple nights a week for practice. And we commit every summer weekend to swim meets. 

We want them to be good teammates, to have a good work ethic, to get good exercise. We want them to be socialized, and not indoors in front of screens. We even see the opportunity for a future college scholarship.

The youth sports season forms the rhythm of life for good American parents who are doing their best. 

We Want to Give Good Gifts 

Our hearts are in the right place. Even though we are fallen, we are still like our Father in heaven, so it’s our intuition as moms and dads to give good gifts to our children. That has always been true across cultures and throughout time. 

Jesus referenced this in the Sermon on the Mount when he asked, “Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?…If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9, 11).

But what if, in our effort to equip our children for a lifetime of success, we’re actually setting them up to hear the final, terrible words, “I never knew you; depart from me” (Matthew 7:23)?

As we strive to be good parents and give good gifts to our kids, is it possible that we’re instead showing them how to gain the whole world and lose their souls? 

The Best Gift

We can’t miss Jesus’ words on this. He said, 

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26)

If we want our children to find life, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus. He is actually the best gift. He said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Indeed, traveling with the hockey team will impart lifelong lessons. And rising through the ranks of youth tennis will yield great confidence. These gifts are not sinful, or immoral, or even necessarily unwise. But Jesus calls us to put them in their proper place. They are good gifts, but they are not the best gift—and they might even have to be lost for the sake of gaining Christ. 

Taking Jesus’ warning to heart, we moms and dads must ask ourselves if we’re exerting as much enthusiasm and effort and energy on our kids’ spiritual lives as we are on their athletic achievements.

If we are truly dedicated to giving our kids good gifts, we must give them the good news about Jesus.

How to Present the Best Gift

A recent survey asked Christian adults who were raised in Christian homes about the spiritual disciplines present in their homes while growing up (Lifeway Research). Researchers wanted to find out what their parents had done to raise kids who continued to follow Christ long after they left home. 

Here are the five most common activities reported as being practiced in the homes of these Christian adults: 

1. The child regularly read the Bible. 

2. The child regularly spent time in prayer. 

3. The child regularly spent time serving in the church. 

4. The child regularly listened to Christian music.  

5. The child participated in church mission trips or projects. 

Rather than shaping our lives around youth sports, let’s consider shaping our lives around these abundant-life-giving activities. Let’s consider, as families, how we might be in the Word, pray, serve, worship through music, and pursue missions. These practices will lead all of us into a deeper and more joyful walk with Jesus (John 15:10-11). 

Of course, we know that our salvation and our children’s salvation from the penalty, power, and (one day) presence of sin is not dependent on us. Only God can reconcile each of us to himself. Paul says in Ephesians, 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (2:8-9)

Though Christ alone accomplished the work of salvation—through his suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection—we still toil with all his energy that his Spirit powerfully works in us to proclaim Jesus to our kids (Colossians 1:29). May we obediently present Jesus over and over to them (Matthew 28:19), and then trust in him alone to do his good and perfect will.

Is Presenting This Gift Your Priority? 

Parents, let’s ask ourselves: Do we really believe that Jesus is the best gift we can present to our kids? Do our schedules and homes reflect these values? Do our words and lives and hearts profess that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)? 

For what will it profit a child if he gains the traveling team and forfeits his soul? Or if she gains Junior Olympics and forfeits her soul? 

As we strive and sacrifice to give our children the good gifts of this world, may we not lead them to forfeit their souls. May we teach them to lose their lives for Jesus’ sake. May we show them abundant life in him. 

We want to be the best parents we can be, so let’s present our kids the best gift we can offer.

Originally written by Jen Oshman. Used with permission.

Psalm 40

Psalm 40 dropped a truth in my lap in the span of three little words. It starts with an example of patience and went on to list several promises of being heard by God and being saved by God and being protected by him as well. Then, in verse two, it says, “He set my feet on solid ground.”

Did you catch that? “He set my feet…” I don’t know about you, but my whole life I have read this scripture with the emphasis on the end—on the solid ground part. And I was grateful. Solid ground sounds about where I need to be. A safer place than sandy shores or sinking mud, which are the two places I seem to land when left to my own devices, or when I let fear take over. So, at least once a week.

It’s about different things, but it’s the same old fear. I am fearful to be known. I have fear my kids will turn crazy once they get enough freedom. Somedays I am scared I will never be healed. Other times fear comes in when I think too deeply about what my husband is looking at on his phone. I mean, I think it’s on the up-and-up, but I don’t really know. It could be anything. I go through panic and extreme faith like I am on an endless roller coaster. I don’t want to function this way, but I am human, and my imagination is too big for my own good.

It’s in these chaotic spaces that God nudges me in scripture or through prayer and reminds me I am not a pawn—moved here and there at the enemy’s whim. I am actually a daughter of the most-high priest; a warrior meant to change a nation as I take each thought captive and replace it with God’s truths. A woman after God’s own heart. Made in God’s image and capable of bringing glory to God with my story.

So, while solid ground is really important, what really matters here is that he sets my feet. God sets my feet. He pulls me up and out and closer to him and sets my feet exactly when and where he wants me.

This psalm goes on to make another amazing claim. In verse three, it says that others will be changed because of what I allow God to do in my life. I have to choose to let him place me, but then he takes care of the rest—including the parts that bring others to his kingdom because he’s miraculous in my story. And isn’t that the point of everything we go through—good and bad? For God to be glorified, so others are drawn to him.

Take a look around and ask God, “where have you set me? Am I open to letting you use my story any way you see fit? Lord, show me where I need to surrender a little more. Help me set fear behind me and choose you who are the same today as you were yesterday and will be tomorrow. Set me feet as you see fit.” Amen

Written for Strength & Song by Shontell Brewer.