Craig Clouston

Miles of Preparation

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6

As he read the e-mail, he could actually picture the tears running down his daughter’s face. In her freshman year at college, she was struggling with separation anxiety. So was her daddy. Separated by two hundred miles, it felt like ten thousand.
That first year marked the beginning of new levels of growth for the family. Visits by both student and parents alike marked their progress. After a couple years of saying good-bye, they didn’t hang on to each other quite so long, and the heartache was a little less intense.
As the four years passed, there was measurable growth. There were struggles and disappointments: Daddy would undergo bypass surgery, and his daughter would begin to lean on the other man in her life. Her boyfriend of four years would become her fiancé. They would graduate with their bachelor’s degrees, return home, and as planned over the past two years, get married.
Then new levels of growth would bring new pain.

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There is pain attached to most meaningful growth. In childbirth, both mother and child experience trauma. But that trauma gives way to joy and delight. As children grow, they begin to assert their individuality. Falling, they get back up, sometimes crying in pain and needing comfort, sometimes stubbornly moving forward without much thought to the fall.
As God’s creation, we have an inherent need to seek and learn and grow. God’s good work prepares us for the future. Though our parents provide much of the knowledge we seek, experience is the teacher we learn from the most, because hands-on learning imprints itself deeper in our mind.
As we ourselves have grown, we must allow our children to go it alone, gaining their own experience, trusting in today’s text that God began this good work in their hearts. He alone can draw them into a relationship that will guide them as they grow. His preparation brings a certain amount of pain. With that pain comes growth.

Prayer

“I don’t really like pain, Abba. But I trust You. Walk me through the pain. Continue this good work in me. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”