Honor…one of the things on that list of Ten things. ‘Honor your father and your mother,’(Ex. 20:12) I notice there are no conditions attached. I don’t get to pick and choose when or if I honor them. I am not told to obey them instead of God,.and.never in disobedience to God. But I am not given the option of deciding they don’t deserve my honoring them.
‘kabed’=to be heavy. This is the word that is translated honor. It carries with it the idea of importance. Parents are important. Even bad parents are important. But how my heart hurts for those who did not have the nurturing they needed. I grieve for those who are alone in their struggles. The mother in me wants to step into those situations and try to make up for it. But there is no making up for it. Not by me, or you.
But there is help. ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.’ (Ps. 27:10) The very best thing we can do for adults who have been let down…disappointed…abandoned…forsaken by parents, is point them to The Perfect Father. Even the most devoted parent among us lets our children down, fails on some point. ‘God is not a man, that He should lie’ (Num. 23:19) Hallelujah.
