Our Children's Children

"But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts." Psalm 103:17-18

I will admit it. When verses in the Bible talk about descendants, and children's children, it boggles my mind. I mean, right now, in the here and now, I am a mom to young children. The mere thought of them growing, getting married, and having children is just mind boggling. It almost doesn't register... Yet here I am, and I'm sure it doesn't seem like all that long ago that I was the one finishing third grade while my parents looked on. And before that it was their turn, and so on. Yet lately, when I read verses like these, I feel a strong stirring in my heart, a stirring that tells me that the things I do today, can and will affect those who come after me. To actually see this in action though is confirmation, and when I think on it, I do see this verse come to fruition.

I have to go back to my great-grandparents, whom I only met a few times in my life because they lived several states away. They were God-loving people, and I recall those times when I was really young, and we'd started attending church, and we'd talk about family who was saved, and my great-grandparents were always at the top of that list. They loved Jesus, and they loved their family, and I know that they prayed for their entire family each and every day, right down to the great-grandchildren. In fact, my great-grandmother was just a few months shy of being a great-great grandmother, and I have no doubt that there was a prayer said by that woman for the tiny life that was growing inside of me before she went to meet Jesus herself. Yet as I think about the extended family, I can see those prayers in action, even today. As many members of the family have gone on to become pastors and elders and ministers in one fashion or another. My great-grandparents spent time with God interceding for their children's children, and by golly if those prayers still don't have an effect today, as one by one family is coming to know God personally and walk with Him each and every day.

This shows me that my own prayers do not fall on deaf ears. That as I pray for my children, those prayers will withstand the test of time and God will be with them, no matter where they are in their love walk. That's a great encouragement, and to be honest, looking at the examples from the past, it's also almost an incentive to keep it up. God will reward the faithful, and those rewards may very well lie with my children, or their children. So I think I'll just keep on praying.