Necessary Trust

Lord, I will raise these children up the way You want me to. I just ask for Your guidance because I don’t know how to do it.

Bennie’s journey as a young wife and mother began with this simple but earnest prayer. Having just dedicated her life to following Jesus, Bennie turned to her Savior for guidance and help in this new and daunting journey of life. At the beginning of this season, the Lord brought a mentor and friend into Bennie’s life to teach her not only the practical skills of being a Godly wife and mother but also the necessity of humbly depending upon Christ. With other young women, Bennie began to glean wisdom from her pastor’s wife. I depended on her a lot because she took us young ladies under her wing, and she began to instill the Word of God into us.

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The loving wisdom and counsel given by her pastor’s wife was indeed a gift that Bennie treasured, for her own childhood had been riddled with difficulty. Growing up in a single-parent home, Bennie resolved to raise her children better than she had been raised, with the help of the Lord. Without a constant example from her own mother, Bennie quickly learned the necessity of depending upon Christ as she prepared to bring her second baby into the world. Some days I acted out in fear, but for the most part, I was taught to go to God, by my pastor’s wife. “God, I don’t know what to do, how do I handle this?” And sometimes I would handle it in my fleshly way, by my own impulses. But as I matured as a Christian, I learned to go to God and ask God for the instructions and help me for the day.

 

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The loving wisdom and counsel given by her pastor’s wife was indeed a gift that Bennie treasured, for her own childhood had been riddled with difficulty. Growing up in a single-parent home, Bennie resolved to raise her children better than she had been raised, with the help of the Lord. Without a constant example from her own mother, Bennie quickly learned the necessity of depending upon Christ as she prepared to bring her second baby into the world. Some days I acted out in fear, but for the most part, I was taught to go to God, by my pastor’s wife. “God, I don’t know what to do, how do I handle this?” And sometimes I would handle it in my fleshly way, by my own impulses. But as I matured as a Christian, I learned to go to God and ask God for the instructions and help me for the day.

 

image-3Through her children’s dependence upon her, Bennie understood anew her own dependence upon Christ. Rather than a sign of weakness or laziness, Bennie found her greatest strength by relying on the Lord. Dependency shows God that we need Him; it shows Him that we trust Him. Her role as a mother also showed Bennie that her dependence was a display of respect for her Heavenly Father that is pleasing to Him. If my children showed me that they didn’t trust me, I would be very sad. When we show God that we don’t rely on Him and trust Him, I can’t imagine how sad it makes Him feel. Bennie’s dependency, like her children’s, pleased her Father and revealed her trust in Him.

 

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Bennie is the mother to 10 now grown children. Her stories of depending on the Lord to raise her children are numerous and speak magnificently of God’s grace throughout her life and His power to work through her weakness, fear, and inability, that He may reveal her need for Him. One of Bennie’s stories speaks strongly of the beautiful practicality of God’s provision and our daily dependence upon Him.

You see I had lost my eyesight, right after delivering one of my babies, and my kids depended on me to take care of them. They had no idea that Momma couldn’t see. No idea. But they continued to depend on me to do their breakfast, their lunch, their dinner, give them their baths, watch over them. They had no idea that Momma could not even see them. I had to really depend upon God to help me do what I had to do to take care of those children. Every day I depended upon God to heal my eyes and to give me my eyesight back … I couldn’t have done it on my own.