Prepare children spiritually for the world’s uncertainty

Dear Dr. Graham: My wife and I have been married 10 years and she is reluctant to have children because of the terrible condition the world is in now. I can’t say that I disagree with her, but I feel that we are cheating ourselves of having, and raising, a family. Am I wrong? C.H.

Dear C.H.: If you were to study the history of the world, it is doubtful you could find a single time when conditions were ideal, or the future was not cloud- ed with uncertainty. Even when social and political circumstances have been reasonably good, the world has been ravaged by natural disasters, plagues and war. But thankfully, God is in control of the future.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah lived during a terrible time. The Jewish people had been carried away into captivity and faced a dismal future. Many of them must have asked the same question, but Jeremiah told them, “Marry and have sons and daughters ... For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the lord, “plans to ... give you hope and a future” ( Jeremiah 29:6, 11, NIV). He could say this with confidence because he knew that God was lord over the future, as well as the past and present.

This does not mean everything will be easy for our children. But our responsibility is clear: If God gives children to us, we should do whatever we can to strengthen them spiritually so that they too can face the future with a confident hope in God and be an example to others.