I naturally assumed that the longer they drove with a licensed driver (me) in the car with them, the better drivers they would become. Not so, said the driver's education manual. According to their research, students benefit greatly from having an older, more experienced driver coaching them through the ins and outs of learning to drive, but only to a point.
After that point, research showed, a new driver's ability to learn necessary decision making skills actually becomes hindered by having a coach in the car with them at all times. Studies showed that the student would become too dependent on the coach, and begin to rely on the coach's instruction instead of developing their own decision-making skills necessary to learn to navigate roads safely.
This principle applies to parenting as well. God entrusts children into the care of their parents for a season. During those 18 or so years, it is the parents' privilege to teach them all they can about how to navigate the roads of life. We teach them practical skills, interpersonal skills, and spiritual skills.We teach them everything from how to feed themselves, to how to treat others, to how to maintain a relationship with God. As best we can, we teach them all the skills they need to succeed in life.
And then we get out of the car and let them drive.
All by themselves.
It is necessary, and it is good.
What we as Christian parents know, though, is that they aren't really all by themselves.
They go with God.
God who will never leave them nor forsake them. God who walks the path ahead of them and prepares a table before them. God who is present in the darkness and in the light. God who is their teacher, their provider, their constant companion, and the lover of their souls. God who loves them even more than we ever could. God who wants to work in their lives to do something we could never do.
If you've climbed out of the car this week, be comforted.
God didn't.
