Becoming the Blacksmith of your family again

Written during Lock Down 2020 (Covid epidemic)

Interesting how Old Testament Bible stories can be applied to our unique lock down environments we find ourselves in.

In 1 Samuel 10-13 we read of how Saul has just been made King of the Israelites. The nation is still getting use to life under a King, when the Philistines, a well-oiled war machine, decide to make war against the Israelites. The enemies long term strategy was two-fold. The first was to send 3 different teams to raid the Israelites which probably reduced their supplies and dampened their fighting spirit.

The second strategy was to ensure that there were NO blacksmiths to be found in any                Israeli territory. We don’t know how the Philistines did this, but I suspect is was a slow and subtle process of eliminating these skilled workman. If Israelis needed to sharpen their farming equipment, they would go to the Philistine blacksmiths. In today’s terms we may call it outsourcing the role of a blacksmith to someone else.

Why did Philistines do this? Why eliminate the role of a blacksmith amongst the Israelis? One of the jobs of a blacksmith was to make weapons. With no local blacksmith, the army of Saul had no weapons and was therefore ill prepared to make war against the Philistines. A subtle but very effective strategy of the enemy.

 I wonder how much of our parental responsibility to spiritually equip our children; we may consciously or unconsciously have outsourced over the years.  Long working hours for parents or busy social or sporting schedules over weekends, or even church responsibilities kept us as parents from properly equipping our kids with the correct weapons – as a blacksmith would equip a soldier with a sword.

Maybe we started relying on the school or the church or the youth pastor or even good role models to equip our children with the necessary tools to face the different enemies they would have to deal with. But now the schools and churches are shut (due to Covid epidemic)and social and sporting events are not filling our homes or calendars. Suddenly, we have time and influence again. Here is an opportunity for us as parents to train our kids with the correct weapons on how to deal with the challenges they face in lock down but also the one’s they will face when life returns to normal.

Maybe it’s time we as parents take up our roles as spiritual blacksmiths again. Relying on the Holy Spirit, let’s use this time to equip our kids with the spiritual weapons they need.

-Let’s teach them the power of worship when they are overwhelmed, the weapon of God’s Word to overcome the lies that make them insecure.

-Let’s teach them God’s character so that they know who they are trusting with their problems.

-Let’s show them that prayer is actually an exchange transaction where we get to give our concerns and take God’s perspective.

-Teach them to overcome selfishness by serving others.

-Teach them how forgiveness of even the smallest things can set them free from the chains of resentment.

-Teach them how God’s gift of joy shifts atmospheres of entitlement and God’s peace transform confusion into rest.

May parents once again take up the God appointed task of placing God’s weapons in the hands of our children. May we send better equipped and trained young people into our society to shift atmospheres through God’s love and truth.

Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old, he will not depart from it. Prov 22:6